Aldec Filed Federal Lawsuit Requesting the Recall of All Xilinx® (NASDAQ:XLNX) Design Tools Shipped During 1996-2001 with Aldec Software

Henderson Nevada, April 17th, 2002-- Aldec, Inc., a pioneer in mixed language simulation and advanced design tools for FPGA and ASIC devices, announced today that on March 4th, 2002, it filed a lawsuit at San Francisco’s Federal Court against Xilinx, Inc. (NASDAQ:XLNX) of San Jose, California, to replace tens of thousands of copyrighted Aldec software packages that were shipped by Xilinx without the protection required by the OEM Agreement of January 5th, 1996 between Xilinx and Aldec.

Based on that OEM Agreement, Xilinx was distributing for 6 years Aldec’s copyrighted software as part of its Foundation Series™ software used for designing Xilinx field programmable gate array (FPGA) devices. It is believed that over 20,000 customers are using the Aldec software worldwide, and their designs created one of the major markets for Xilinx devices.

“We are seeking to restore the status that would have existed if Xilinx complied with the terms of the Agreement,” stated Stanley Hyduke, President of Aldec.

Subpoenas in this federal case will soon be issued to Xilinx, its distributors and customers worldwide in order to determine the extent of Xilinx’s unauthorized distribution of unprotected copies of Aldec software in violation of intellectual property laws. Aldec is assessing the damages caused by noncompliance with the agreement and is seeking to compel Xilinx to comply with the terms of the agreement by reshipping the software products with proper protection that was required by the agreement between the companies.

About Aldec
Aldec, Inc. is an 18-year old EDA company specializing in multi-platform design tools for the FPGA and ASIC markets. Aldec products are based on both U.S. and international patents. In the past, Aldec has signed over 10 OEM agreements for its leading edge products. Headquartered in Henderson, Nevada, Aldec continues to evolve as the fastest growing design verification company in the world. Additional information about Aldec is available at http://www.aldec.com.

Xilinx® is a registered trademark of Xilinx, Inc.; Foundation Series is a trademark of Xilinx, Inc.
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Contact:        Megan Moran                
Aldec, Inc.                                        
(702) 990-4400 ext. 201                        
meganm@aldec.com