[0] Lexra Prepares Motion for Summary Judgment After Markman Hearing Win; Favorable Interpretation of Two Contested Patents Sets Stage for Lexra Legal Victory.

Business Editors

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 19, 2001

Lexra, a leading developer of 32-bit RISC, RISC-DSP and NPU cores for the embedded market, announced today that the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California supported Lexra's interpretation of the two patents in the lawsuit between Lexra and MIPS Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: MIPS, MIPSB). This Markman ruling combined with the earlier U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) rejection of MIPS(R) U.S. Patent Number 4,814,976 ('976 patent) gives Lexra the persuasive legal arguments to end this lawsuit by filing a motion for summary judgment, an accelerated decision by the judge.

"The court has finally spoken in this long-running legal battle," says Charlie Cheng, President and CEO of Lexra Inc. "We are very pleased with the judge's interpretations, and are confident that they will accelerate our legal victory."

In a patent lawsuit, the Markman Hearing is a process for the judge to opine on patent claims that are in dispute between the two parties, so these interpretations can be used later in jury trial. In this lawsuit, only two specific claims required the judge's interpretations. Justice Saundra B. Armstrong's half-page opinion defined what "transformation" means in U.S. Patent No. 5,864,703 ('703) and what "during an instruction" means in U.S. Patent No. 4,814,976 ('976).

The court adopted Lexra's definition of "transformation" in the '703 patent as requiring a processor to perform all "scaling, rounding, and clamping" functionality in one instruction, instead of in any set of separate operations as MIPS has argued.

"In our published data as well as Microprocessor Report articles, it is obvious that our DSP needs three separate instructions to scale, round and clamp," says Pat Hays Lexra's CTO. "The court's definition enables Lexra to clearly demonstrate that its DSP technology does not infringe the '703 patent."

In the case of the '976 patent, the court interpreted "during an instruction" to mean that the unaligned transfer must be done in two instructions. Lexra is confident its emulation code does not infringe since many instructions are required. While Lexra is equally pleased with the interpretation of the phrase "during an instruction" in the '976 patent, an earlier ruling by the PTO has rendered the relevant claims in '976 patent invalid. This preliminary ruling, when finalized in the near future, will also enable Lexra to file for dismissal of the lawsuit.

About Lexra

Lexra, Inc. is a leading microprocessor developer specializing in 32-bit RISC, RISC-DSP and NPU cores for the embedded market. In less than four years, the company has established itself as an innovator in embedded microprocessor technology and intellectual property (IP) licensing business model, with a proven track record for customer success. During this short period, Lexra has delivered seven different processor architectures (or designs) to over 30 licensees in six different countries. Its customers are among the top ten semiconductor companies as well as the top three network communication companies. Lexra is headquartered in San Jose, Calif. Further company information can be found at http://www.lexra.com.

Note to Editors: MIPS and other MIPS common law marks are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of MIPS Technologies, Inc. IBM is a registered trademark of IBM Corp. Lexra, Inc. is not associated with MIPS Technologies, Inc. in any way.