It was publicly traded on the American Stock Exchange under the symbol FEP until September 30, 2009, when it merged with Saunders Acquisition Corporation.

(See Apple Computer, Inc. v. Franklin Computer Corp.) Franklin followed with the ACE 1200, which included two built-in 5¼" floppy drives and an ACE 80 Zilog Z80 processor card (a rebranded PCPI Appli-Card) for CP/M compatibility—a popular third-party option for the Apple II.

Franklin openly acknowledged that it had copied Apple's ROM and operating system code.

This significant case had long-lasting effects and established important legal precedents regarding copyright and reverse engineering.

Soon after the ACE 2200's release, Apple was able to force Franklin out of the desktop computer market entirely, including its IBM-compatible PCs.

With the loss of its desktop computer business, Franklin concentrated on its handheld line, which it had introduced in 1986.

[5] Franklin also released its Language Master device, which included spelling correction, dictionary definitions and a thesaurus.

[12][13] In 1995, Franklin launched its Bookman product line, which came with an installed database and included a slot for plugging in a second electronic book.

FEP makes electronic versions of dictionaries, translators, tutors, puzzles, Bibles, Rolodex organizers, calculators, and books.

The company's first product for the Asian market, the Japanese-English Electronic PageMark Dictionary, was distributed through its partner Seiko Instruments, Inc.