|
Editor Contact:
Scott Wylie
Altera Corporation
(408) 544-6996
swylie@altera.com
For Release: May 10, 2001
U.S. District Court Reverses Jury Verdict That Altera's FLEX® 8000 Products Infringed on Xilinx's Patents
San Jose, Calif., May 10, 2001-The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California today reversed a November 2000 jury verdict that the FLEX 8000 line of products manufactured by Altera Corporation (Nasdaq: ALTR) infringed two patents of Xilinx Inc. (Nasdaq: XLNX). Today's ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by Xilinx in 1993.
"We stated from the outset that the revolutionary FLEX 8000 product was solely the result of Altera's innovation. At trial, the evidence clearly showed that the FLEX 8000 did not infringe. We are obviously pleased with the court's judgment in our favor," said John Daane, president and CEO.
In its ruling today, the court found that the FLEX 8000 does not infringe the Freeman `363 patent, which Xilinx argued covers basic FPGA technology. The court also found that the Carter `487 patent, which was an improvement patent based on the Freeman patent, was invalid. As a result of today's decision, the court has entered judgment in favor of Altera.
Altera will host a conference call to review today's ruling and Altera's ongoing patent litigation with Xilinx. The call will be held on Friday, May 11, at 6:00 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time. The call may be accessed by dialing (913) 981-5553 and referencing Altera. A webcast replay will be available later in the day in the investor relations section of the company's web site, http://www.altera.com. A telephonic replay of the call may also be accessed later in the day by calling (719) 457-0820 and referencing confirmation code 258712. The telephonic replay will be available for two weeks following the live call.
About Altera
Altera Corporation, The Programmable Solutions Company®, was founded in 1983 and is a leading supplier of programmable logic devices (PLDs). Altera's CMOS-based PLDs are user-programmable semiconductor chips that enhance flexibility and reduce time-to-market for companies in the communications, computer peripheral, and industrial markets. By using high performance devices, software development tools, and sophisticated intellectual property cores, system-on-a-programmable-chip (SOPC) solutions can be created with embedded processors, memory, and other complex logic together on a single PLD. Altera common stock is traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol ALTR. More information on Altera is available on the Internet at http://www.altera.com.
Forward-looking Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are generally written in the future tense and/or preceded by words such as "will", or describe an anticipated future event. Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements in the release involve risks and uncertainty, including without limitation the risk that the complex and evolving nature of such legal proceedings may alter the company's legal plans and that future court rulings cannot, by their nature, be predicted with certainty. For additional information, please refer to the company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings, copies of which are available from the company without charge.
|
Literature
> 
