KITCHENER, Ontario, January 11, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

The PEER Group Inc. (PEER Group®) and SEMI® are pleased to announce an agreement for the contribution to the public domain of all rights in SML by PEER Group and PEER Intellectual Property Inc. (collectively, "PEER Group"). SML (SECS Message Language) is a general notation to describe individual SECS (SEMI Equipment Communications Standard) Data Items and complete SECS messages, simplifying the description of SECS communications.

"SML continues to provide significant value to the semiconductor manufacturing community and we are pleased to have reached an agreement with SEMI to provide its free and open use," says PEER Group president and CEO, Mike Kropp.

PEER Group and SEMI have agreed that as a benefit to the semiconductor industry, SML and all related rights, including copyright and trademark rights, should be available for free and unrestricted use by the public. To this end, PEER Group is donating all of its intellectual property rights in SML to the public domain for use without license, attribution, or fee.

"We thank PEER Group for their contribution and their ongoing efforts as a member of SEMI to support standards in the semiconductor industry," says Denny McGuirk, SEMI president and CEO.

SML has been used in the semiconductor industry since the 1980s when it was developed by GW Associates. It is used in PEER Group's connectivity and testing products, such as SDR™, GWGEM®, and SECSIM Pro®+. SML was first used by SEMI in its E30-0298 standard and is used in numerous standards published by SEMI.

About SEMI
SEMI is the global industry association serving the nano- and microelectronic manufacturing supply chains. Our 1,900 member companies are the engine of the future, enabling smarter, faster and more economical products that improve our lives. Since 1970, SEMI has been committed to helping members grow more profitably, create new markets and meet common industry challenges. SEMI maintains offices in Bangalore, Beijing, Berlin, Brussels, Grenoble, Hsinchu, Moscow, San Jose, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo, and Washington, D.C. For more information on SEMI, visit http://www.semi.org.

About PEER Group
PEER Group provides innovative factory automation software solutions and consulting services to the semiconductor, photovoltaic, and electronics industries. The world's best manufacturing companies turn to PEER Group to solve their most challenging equipment automation, data management, and process control problems. With more than 100,000 licenses shipped, we are the leading supplier of equipment connectivity and testing products to automated factories around the globe. Our products and services help lower the cost of automation for high-volume manufacturers and their equipment suppliers. PEER Group is recognized on the following listings: Great Place to Work's Best Workplaces Canada, Branham300, Deloitte Technology Fast 50, and Deloitte Technology Fast 500. Learn more at http://www.peergroup.com.

PEER Group, Heidi Marr, Manager, Marketing Services and Corporate Communications, Heidi.Marr@peergroup.com, +1-519-749-9554; SEMI, Tom Salmon, VP, Global Member Services & Standards, tsalmon@semi.org, +1-408-943-6965

SOURCE PEER Group, Inc.