EANS-Adhoc: austriamicrosystems AG
austriamicrosystems confirms validity of
court decision in patent infringement lawsuit against Melexis, is confident to
prevail in appeal
of first-instance patentability decision
Unterpremstaetten, Austria (December 17, 2010) -
ad-hoc disclosure transmitted by euro adhoc with the aim of a Europe-wide distribution. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
Patents, Copyright & Trademarks
17.12.2010
austriamicrosystems (SIX: AMS) today confirmed that the first-instance verdict in the patent infringement lawsuit against Melexis N.V. / SA (Belgium) and its German subsidiary Melexis GmbH before the District Court (Landgericht) in Duesseldorf (Germany) regarding magnetic field encoder products and European Patent EP 0 916 074 B1 remains valid. At the same time, austriamicrosystems expects to ultimately prevail against the first-instance decision by the Federal Patent Court (Bundespatentgericht) in Munich (Germany) which deems the European Patent EP 0 916 074 B1 covering magnetic field encoder products and exclusively held by austriamicrosystems not patentable.
austriamicrosystems will appeal the court´s decision at the Federal Supreme Court (Bundesgerichtshof) in Karlsruhe (Germany) after the first-instance court´s decision has been issued in writing. austriamicrosystems is confident to prevail in this next and final instance and to have the patent fully validated by the court.
austriamicrosystems emphasizes that this recent development has no impact on its current and future business. As the first-instance decision by the Federal Patent Court remains legally non-binding until the appeal has been decided, Melexis will, however, continue to carry the risk of financial damages for patent infringement being awarded to austriamicrosystems after positive decision of the appeal.
austriamicrosystems is the worldwide leader in high resolution ICs with magnetic field sensors, offering a broad range of rotary and linear encoders. Providing robust, contactless position measurement, magnetic field encoders from austriamicrosystems are ideally suited for virtually countless applications in industrial, automotive and consumer electronics.
end of announcement euro adhoc
Further inquiry note:
Moritz M. Gmeiner
Director Investor Relations
Tel: +43 3136 500-5970
Fax: +43 3136 500-5420
Email: investor@austriamicrosystems.com
Branche: Technology
ISIN: AT0000920863
WKN: 632638
Börsen: SIX Swiss Exchange / official dealing