Nassda Comments on Litigation Developments
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Nov. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Nassda Corp. (NASDAQ: NSDA) today commented on the rulings and orders recently issued in California state court and by the United States Patent and Trademark Office with respect to its litigation with Synopsys, Inc.
As Nassda reported on June 11, 2004, the discovery referee issued sanction orders against Nassda and the individual defendants on a number of different matters in a manner that was favorable to Synopsys. The orders are available on the investor relations portion of Nassda's web site at http://www.nassda.com/.
In early August 2004, Nassda filed a writ petition in the California Court of Appeal, Sixth Appellate District in San Jose, seeking to overturn these orders. In mid-October, the Court of Appeal requested Synopsys to file opposition to the petition and provided Nassda with the opportunity to file a reply to Synopsys' opposition. This request by the Court of Appeal does not provide any assurance that the Court of Appeal will grant the petition or hear the case on its merits and reverse the discovery referee's orders. The briefing the Court of Appeal requested is expected to be filed by mid-December. The Court of Appeal is expected to decide sometime after that whether to conduct further proceedings on the petition.
In light of the proceedings before the Court of Appeal, on October 28, 2004, the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Santa Clara, issued an order which vacated the January 2005 trial date and stayed all trial proceedings pending final determination of the writ proceedings. A new trial date is not likely to be set until all appellate proceedings related to the writ have been completed.
In addition, in August 2004, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued a final rejection of all the claims in the re-examination proceedings relating to Synopsys' U.S. Patent No. 5,878,053 entitled "Hierarchical Power Network Simulation and Analysis Tool For Reliability Testing of Deep Submicron IC Designs" (the "'053 patent"). Synopsys has appealed the final rejection to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences. Synopsys had alleged that Nassda's products infringed the '053 patent. As previously reported, the patent infringement litigation filed by Synopsys against Nassda with the United States District Court of the Northern District of California has been stayed pending the final outcome of the re-examination of the '053 patent. With respect to the litigation against Nassda filed by Synopsys relating to Synopsys U.S. Patent No. 6,249,898 entitled "Methods and Systems for Reliability Analysis of CMOS VLSI Circuits Based on Stage Partitioning and Node Activities" (the "898 Patent") in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, there has been no material developments and trial is still set for April 2005.
"There have been many preliminary rulings in this case and we expect many more to come," said Dr. Sang Wang, CEO of Nassda. "Some of the rulings are favorable to us and others are not. We are pleased that the Court of Appeal has requested briefing on our writ but we cannot assure our investors that the Court of Appeal's review of our writ will have a favorable outcome for us. We are also extremely pleased that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has disallowed the '053 patent, and, unless Synopsys prevails on its appeal, we anticipate that the case will be dismissed. We intend to continue to defend ourselves vigorously in all of these cases."
About Nassda
Nassda Corporation is a leading provider of full-chip circuit verification software for complex nanometer semiconductors. Headquartered in Santa Clara, California, the company develops and markets simulation and analysis solutions for advanced ICs, especially for analog, mixed signal, memory, system-on-chip and high performance digital designs. Nassda's products enable first silicon success, and improve product quality and production yield for its consumer, communication, computer, and memory customers. The company has sales and distribution offices throughout the world. For more information about Nassda, please visit the company's website at http://www.nassda.com/.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding the outcome of the litigation between Nassda and Synopsys that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are generally preceded by words that imply a future state, such as "expects" or "anticipates," or that imply that a particular future event or events will occur, such as "will," "remain," "may," or the negative of these terms. Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements in this release involve risks and uncertainty, including without limitation, the outcome of pending and future motions and other court proceedings, as well as the results of any trial or appeal. These risks, uncertainties and other factors may cause the outcome of any motion, proceeding or case to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements are only predictions and the actual events or results may differ materially. Nassda cannot provide any assurance that its future results will meet expectations. In addition, historical information should not be considered a predictor of future performance. Neither Nassda nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of these forward-looking statements. Nassda disclaims any obligation to update information contained in any forward-looking statement.
For additional information and considerations regarding the risks faced by Nassda, see its Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
NOTE: Nassda is a registered trademark of Nassda Corporation.
CONTACT: Tammy Shu Hua Liu of Nassda Corporation, +1-408-988-9988, or
tammy@nassda.com
Web site: http://www.nassda.com/
