Xerox intends to create an independent company for its Palo Alto Research Center (Parc), which will continue to spawn a stream of inventions such as laser printing and better user interfaces.

The new company is expected to begin operations after 1 January as a wholly owned Xerox subsidiary.

Herve Gallaire, Xerox Innovation Group president, explained that the company has been looking for strategic, non-competitive partners for Parc for about a year.

He confirmed that talks are under way with active potential investors. "The current Parc organisation will be the nucleus of the new company, but we intend to augment it with business development and management functions," he said.

According to Xerox, Parc employees will transfer to the new company in January.

Founded in 1970, Parc is one of seven Xerox global research centres that contribute to the company's annual commitment of about $1bn to research and development.