The owners of Tandem took care to ensure their intellectual property was vested in a third party company, reliable sources said. Although Compaq took over Tandem a couple of years ago, a former employee said today it was unable to buy the entire intellectual property. Tandem is trusted by people, worldwide, because of its undoubted lead in non stop computing -- which such firms describe in terms such as .99999 recurring. Before Tandem was bought, we understand, some of the intellectual property was secured in a third party company. It is unclear how much of this IP Compaq owns. Further, owners of the intellectual property are in negotiations with some of Compaq's competitors, the source added. Compaq could not be contacted at press time for comment, although we're very willing to hear from the firm, anytime, anywhere. ®