Licence Upgrade

Xaar PLC
1 March 2001

                                                                   1 March 2001


                                   Xaar plc


                        XAAR ANNOUNCES LICENCE UPGRADE

Xaar plc ('Xaar'), the Cambridge-based ink jet printing technology company,
today announced that Seiko Instruments Inc. have upgraded their Licence
Agreement to cover Xaar's entire patent portfolio, including IPR arising out
of the Cambridge company's PWA (Page Wide Array) wide printhead development.
Xaar has more than doubled its patent portfolio in the last four years since
Seiko Instruments took out their original licence.


                                     Ends


Jan Fineman, Chief Executive, Hugh Baker-Smith, Group Sales Director or Gordon
MacLeod, Finance Director designate at Xaar on Tel: [phone]

Steve Liebmann or Lisa Baderoon at Buchanan Communications on Tel: 020
7-466-5000