Business Editors

    STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 7, 1999--

    Technological Leader in the Mail & Messaging Industry
    Received 44% More Patents in 1998

    Inventions by Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI) yielded a record 124 patents issued in 1998, marking the Company's 13th consecutive year as one of the top 200 worldwide companies receiving U.S. patents. The figure represents a 44% increase over the Company's 86 patents issued in 1997.

Pitney Bowes Chairman and CEO Michael J. Critelli noted: "We have a long, rich tradition of technological innovation and investment at Pitney Bowes. In fact, our $100 million investment in research and development in 1998 represented a 13% increase over 1997. That is why we are so pleased to be recognized for our pioneering work in the development of new technology that spans key areas of mail and messaging management. One of our strengths is applying technology to help businesses of all sizes - small to large conglomerates - reduce the cost, enhance the impact and increase the effectiveness of end-to-end mail and messaging management."

While Pitney Bowes is renowned for bringing numerous inventions and improvements in mailing and paper handling technologies to market, the Company also has a successful track record of innovation in digital technologies. In fact, a significant part of Pitney Bowes' current patent portfolio includes intellectual property critical to E-commerce applications such as information processing and encryption.

Pitney Bowes has a long history of diversified technological innovations, according to Melvin Scolnick, Deputy General Counsel, Intellectual Property and Technology Law. He notes, for example, that Pitney Bowes has patents dating from the late 1970s for applications for securely downloading postage to remote units over telecommunications lines, and that many of its original PC-based metering patent applications were filed in the 1980s.

"From encryption to barcode decoding, smart cards to inkjet printing, and key management to interactive communications, our diverse patent portfolio supports our core business, as well as related technologies that have broad value and application for the global marketplace," said Mr. Scolnick.

Pitney Bowes' excellence in developing technology and using strategic sourcing to apply available best-in-class technology is reflected in its broad array of advanced products, software and services. Recent offerings include:

-- The Universal Access Copier, designed to remove barriers for

disabled employees in the workplace by applying advanced speech

recognition technology;

-- (D3), the Digital Document Delivery Solution that provides

Internet bill presentment and payment;

-- iSend(tm), which securely delivers documents over the Internet;

-- ClickStamp(tm), the Company's PC-based postage innovation now in

Phase II beta testing with the United States Postal Service, and

ClickStamp(tm) Online, currently under review with the United

States Postal Service;

-- And just introduced last week, Galaxy(tm) Mailing Systems, which

bring ink-jet printing and digital metering to mid-volume

mailers.

Pitney Bowes' Technology Center is located in Shelton, Connecticut, and its campus serves as the "innovation incubator" for several hundred programmers, scientists and engineers. The Company recognizes the achievements of its technology community with its annual Inventor of the Year program. Each year, a panel of judges reviews all of the patents issued to Pitney Bowes inventors during the previous year. The award is presented to the inventor whose patent exhibits significance and value to Pitney Bowes' technology, business and stockholders. The winner or winning team is honored at a gala dinner celebration and receives a financial reward. Details about the invention are displayed in corporate headquarters and featured in the Company newsletter. "We have a large, prolific technology community at Pitney Bowes, and we designed the program to acknowledge their importance to our Company's success," Mr. Critelli noted.

Pitney Bowes' technological strategy has yielded more than 3,000 patents worldwide, with an average of more than 100 issued annually. The Company has a long-standing policy of licensing intellectual property to make pioneering technology accessible to the marketplace, including licensing key postage metering technologies worldwide.

Pitney Bowes is a $4.22 billion global provider of informed mail and messaging management. For more information about the Company, visit www.pitneybowes.com.

     --30--sdg/ny*

     CONTACT:  Pitney Bowes, Stamford
               Sheryl Y. Battles
               Executive Director, External Affairs
               (203) 351-6808

     KEYWORD:  CONNECTICUT
     INDUSTRY KEYWORD:  COMED COMPUTERS/ELECTRONICS