Actel and QuickLogic Settle Litigation; Companies Agree to Cross-Licensing Agreement Settling Claims Over FPGA Patents.SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 25, 1998--Actel Corporation (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on :ACTL ACTL American College of Trial Lawyers (Irvine, California) ACTL Access Carrier Terminal Location ACTL Activation Library ACTL Automated Compatibility Test Laboratory ACTL Association Cultural Turkey-Luxembourg ) and QuickLogic Corporation, both headquartered here, announced today an out-of-court settlement An agreement reached between the parties in a pending lawsuit that resolves the dispute to their mutual satisfaction and occurs without judicial intervention, supervision, or approval. of all pending litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. between the companies. The suits and countersuits, which involved antifuse FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) A type of gate array that is programmed in the field rather than in a semiconductor fab. Containing up to hundreds of thousands of gates, there are a variety of FPGA architectures on the market. (field programmable gate array See FPGA. ) integrated circuit integrated circuit (IC), electronic circuit built on a semiconductor substrate, usually one of single-crystal silicon. The circuit, often called a chip, is packaged in a hermetically sealed case or a nonhermetic plastic capsule, with leads extending from it for device technology, dated back to 1994. The settlement includes cross licenses that protect all existing FPGA products of both companies for the lives of those products. The agreement does not include Actel's SRAM See static RAM. SRAM - static random-access memory (static random access memory Static random access memory (SRAM) is a type of semiconductor memory. The word "static" indicates that the memory retains its contents as long as power remains applied, unlike dynamic RAM (DRAM) that needs to be periodically refreshed (nevertheless, SRAM should not be confused with ) FPGA technology. The financial terms of the settlement were not disclosed. "The agreement announced by Actel and QuickLogic today lays this protracted pro·tract tr.v. pro·tract·ed, pro·tract·ing, pro·tracts 1. To draw out or lengthen in time; prolong: disputants who needlessly protracted the negotiations. 2. legal action to rest," said John East, Actel's president and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. . "We are satisfied with the terms of the settlement and glad to once again focus our competitive efforts on the marketplace rather than the courtroom." "This litigation has been a distraction to both companies for more than 4 1/2 years," stated Tom Hart, president and CEO of QuickLogic. "By putting this issue behind us, I feel that both companies will clearly benefit." About Actel Actel is dedicated to providing logic designers with the capability and confidence to successfully move up to higher complexity designs. The company is the world's leading supplier of antifuse-based field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and associated software development tools. FPGAs are used by designers of communications, computer, medical, military/aerospace, industrial control, and other electronic systems to differentiate their products and get them to market faster. Actel is traded on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol ACTL and is located at 955 East Arques Ave., Sunnyvale, CA 94086-4533. Telephone: 408/739-1010. Internet: http://www.actel.com. Actel's operating results are subject to a multitude of risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from past or projected performance, including general economic conditions and a variety of risks specific to Actel or characteristic of the semiconductor industry, such as fluctuating demand, intense competition, rapid technological change and related intellectual property and international trade issues, wafer and other supply shortages and booking and shipment uncertainties. For discussion of these and other factors that could have a materially adverse effect on Actel's operating results, please see "Risk Factors" in Actel's most recent Forms 10-K and 10-Q, which will be provided to you free of charge upon request. About QuickLogic QuickLogic is committed to addressing the most pressing needs of today's design engineering community. The company recently announced a new class of devices called Embedded Standard Products (ESPs), which provide a solution that bridges the gap between existing ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) Pronounced "a-sick." A chip that is custom designed for a specific application rather than a general-purpose chip such as a microprocessor. options and system-on-a chip designs. QuickLogic's proprietary ViaLink(R) programmable metal-to-metal antifuse technology is the foundation of its ESPs and pASIC(R) families of FPGA devices (Field Programmable Gate Arrays). QuickLogic Corporation is a three-time winner in the national 'Technology Fast 500' program, being named one of the country's fastest growing technology companies. The company is located at 1277 Orleans Drive, Sunnyvale, CA 94089-1138. Phone: 408/990-4000; fax: 408/990-4040. The toll-free literature line is 800/842-FPGA. E-mail at: info@quicklogic.com, or visit QuickLogic's Web site at http://www.quicklogic.com. Note to Editors: The Actel name and logo are registered trademarks of Actel Corporation. ViaLink and pASIC and the QuickLogic logo are registered trademarks of QuickLogic Corporation. All other brands or trademarks are the property of their respective holders and should be treated as such.
CONTACT: Actel Corporation
Clive Jones, 408/739-1010 (media contact)
clive.jones@actel.com
or
QuickLogic Corporation
Jan Houts, 408/990-4000 (media contact)
houts@quicklogic.com
or
Walt & Company Communications (for Actel Corporation)
Kristin Jones/Don Davis, 408/496-0900
kjones@walt.com
ddavis@walt.com
or
KJ Communications (for QuickLogic Corporation)
Eileen Elam, 650/917-1488
kjcom_e@compuserve.com
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