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ITC Launches Investigation of Xilinx Patent Claims Against Altera
SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 18, 2000--Xilinx, Inc.
(Nasdaq:XLNX) today announced that the International Trade Commission
has decided to investigate Xilinx claims that Altera Corporation is
importing products that infringe three Xilinx patents. The decision
follows a request by Xilinx, announced two weeks ago, to investigate
alleged infringements by Altera, and to bar Altera from importing or
selling products into the United States that infringe the three Xilinx
patents. The patents cover important aspects of field programmable
gate array technology. The Altera products covered by the three
patents include all of the Flex, Apex and Acex families. An initial
ruling on the issue of infringement is expected by the third calendar
quarter of 2001.
``The ITC action is an expedited process in which to further
protect our intellectual property,'' said Wim Roelandts, Xilinx
president and CEO. ``If we do not aggressively protect our intellectual
property, we cannot reap the benefits of the original risk taken by
our shareholders when we invented the FPGA.''
About the Patents
The three Xilinx patent claims named in this case differ from the
two patents upheld by a federal jury last month in Federal District
Court in San Jose, Calif. The three patents in this case are
Nos. 5,343,406; 5,432,719, and 5,861,761. The patents expire in 2011,
2012, and 2014, respectively.
About Xilinx
Xilinx is the leading supplier of complete programmable logic
solutions, including advanced integrated circuits, software design
tools, predefined system functions delivered as cores, and
unparalleled field engineering support. Founded in 1984 and
headquartered in San Jose, Calif., Xilinx invented the field
programmable gate array (FPGA) and fulfills more than half of the
world demand for these devices today. Xilinx solutions enable
customers to reduce significantly the time required to develop
products for the computer, peripheral, telecommunications, networking,
industrial control, instrumentation, aerospace, defense, and consumer
markets. For more information, visit the Xilinx web site at
http://www.xilinx.com.
Contact:
Xilinx, Inc.
Tamara Snowden, 408/879-6146
Public Relations
publicrelations@xilinx.com
Tom Lavelle, 408/879-5085
Vice-President and General Counsel
tom.lavelle@xilinx.com
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