Apple Continues to Reduce Marketing Exposure of ColorSync; IMATEC Believes Pending Patent Infringement Litigation Is The Reason.NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 9, 1999-- Hanoch Shalit, Ph.D., the President of IMATEC, Ltd. (OTCBB OTCBB See OTC Bulletin Board (OTCBB). : IMEC) today stated, that, in his opinion, Apple continues to reduce the market exposure of their ColorSync product because of IMATEC'S patent law suit against Apple. Dr. Shalit's view is that, although ColorSync is very important to Apple's marketing success, Apple continues the trend of "keeping a low profile" for the product. Dr. Shalit attended the GATF (Graphic Arts Technical Foundation, Sewickley, PA, www.gain.net) A membership organization for the printing and graphics arts industries. Founded in 1924 as the Lithographic Technical Foundation, GATF supports offset lithography and other mechanical press technologies as well as the Color Management Conference in Tampa, Florida “Tampa” redirects here. For other uses, see Tampa (disambiguation). Tampa is a United States city in Hillsborough County, on the west coast of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County.GR6. , December 5, 1999, at which Mr. Roger Siminoff, Worldwide Developer Relations, Senior Technology Manager for ColorSync, announced to the audience that ColorSync 3.0, which is the heart of Apple's color management technology, will not be made available to Apple customers worldwide as a download even for customers who are willing to pay for it separately. Dr. Shalit stated, "In the past few months Apple appears to have adopted an uncharacteristic policy of reducing the marketability of the very product that differentiates them from the Microsoft Windows See Windows. (operating system) Microsoft Windows - Microsoft's proprietary window system and user interface software released in 1985 to run on top of MS-DOS. Widely criticised for being too slow (hence "Windoze", "Microsloth Windows") on the machines available then. platforms. The newly released ColorSync 3.0 was never "officially" launched. There were no official announcements or press releases, which has been Apple's custom in previous releases of the product. The product was quietly "slipped" into the market, "bundled" with the operating system 9.0. "In addition, this new version of ColorSync (3.0) is the only one that cannot be downloaded from Apple's website. The fact that it is not available free for downloading, makes it unique among all other versions of ColorSync. Apple forces the user, who requires ColorSync 3.0, to buy the whole operating system upgrade, MacOS 9, in order to get the ColorSync product. "Apple's explanation, that ColorSync 3.0 will not run with prior versions of MacOS, is inconsistent with its' own public statements. According to Apple's web site, Technote 1185, New ColorSync 3.0 API's, "ColorSync 3.0 requires a PowerPC computer running MacOS 8.5 or later." "Apple's failure to permit ColorSync 3.0 to be downloaded is in stark contrast to their promotion of the earlier ColorSync 2.6. Apple had announced the availability of ColorSync 2.6 in a separate press release (3/2/99) entitled "ColorSync 2.6 now available for download". According to Apple eNews 8/8/99 (vol. 2, Issue 8), 'over 50,000 people downloaded the ColorSync 2.6 upgrade in the first few weeks after it was released, not including customers who acquired it via an operating system upgrade and/or new system purchase.' "Apple's modified marketing policy is also evidenced by the fact that the completely finished and "market-ready" ColorSync for Windows, that would have increased the ColorSync market size many times, was never released. "Further evidence of Apple's attempt to restrict the marketing of ColorSync, is the fact that Apple has not replaced Ken Applebaum, Apple's ColorSync marketing product manager, who resigned more than three months ago." Dr. Shalit believes that Apple's uncharacteristic marketing strategy reflects its efforts to limit its financial damages should Apple lose the lawsuit filed by IMATEC. On February 13, 1998 IMATEC Ltd. filed a Patent Infringement patent infringement n. the manufacture and/or use of an invention or improvement for which someone else owns a patent issued by the government, without obtaining permission of the owner of the patent by contract, license or waiver. Complaint against Apple Computer Corp. in the United States District Court United States District Court In the U.S., any of the 94 trial courts of general jurisdiction in the federal judicial system. Each state, as well as the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, has at least one federal district court. , Southern District, New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of . The suit alleges that Apple Computer Corp. has infringed on three United States Letters Patent An instrument issued by a government that conveys a right or title to a private individual or organization, including conveyances of land and inventions. Although Article I, Section 8, Clause 8, of the U.S. , issued to Hanoch Shalit, Ph.D., by its making, using, and/or selling its "ColorSync" color management system Software that translates the colors of an original image into the truest representation obtainable on the output device. Color management works from a profile of the output device, typically a digital printer or offset press, and works backward to the source of the material such as a and inducing others to do so. The patents cited in the suit are exclusively licensed by Dr. Shalit to IMATEC Ltd. and are: US Letters Patent No. 4,939,581 titled: "Method and System in Video Image Hard Copy Reproduction", No. 5,115,229 titled: "Method and System in Video Image Reproduction" and No. 5,345,315 titled: "Method and System for Improved Tone and Color Reproduction of Electronic Images on Hard Copy Using a Closed Loop Control." IMATEC is seeking a permanent injunction permanent injunction n. a final order of a court that a person or entity refrain from certain activities permanently or take certain actions (usually to correct a nuisance) until completed. forbidding Apple from infringing, inducing others to infringe or contributing to the infringement of IMATEC's patents. A trial by jury has been demanded on all issues. The IMATEC complaint claims Apple's acts of infringement are being committed willfully willfully adv. referring to doing something intentionally, purposefully and stubbornly. Examples: "He drove the car willfully into the crowd on the sidewalk." "She willfully left the dangerous substances on the property." (See: willful) . If Apple is found guilty of willful infringement the damage award may be tripled according to Patent Law 35 U.S.C. Section 284. IMATEC Ltd. was formed in 1988 to develop, design, market and license its proprietary technology, which enhances image reproduction by reducing distortion that normally occurs in the imaging process, for application in such markets as medical imaging, graphic arts, printing, computers, cinematography cinematography: see motion picture photography. cinematography Art and technology of motion-picture photography. It involves the composition of a scene, lighting of the set and actors, choice of cameras, camera angle, and integration of special , the Internet and television/video. For more information on IMATEC and developments on the 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. , please visit the Company's homepage at http://www.imatecltd.com. To the extent that statements in this press release are not strictly historical, including statements as to future financial conditions, events conditioned on shareholder or other approval, otherwise as to future Events, such statements are forward-looking and are made pursuant to the safe harbor Safe Harbor 1. A legal provision to reduce or eliminate liability as long as good faith is demonstrated. 2. A form of shark repellent implemented by a target company acquiring a business that is so poorly regulated that the target itself is less attractive. provisions the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The forward-looking statements contained in this release are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the statement made. Among the factors which could affect the Company's actual results and could cause results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements contained herein are the risk that financial conditions may change, risks relating to the progress of the Company's research and development and the development of competing technologies by other companies. Those associated risks and others are further described in the Company's filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. |
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