Conexant Announces Unfavorable Outcome in First Phase of GlobespanVirata-Derived Litigation with Texas Instruments; Federal Jury Affirms Patent Infringement Counterclaims; Second Phase of Case to Follow.NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. -- Conexant Systems, Inc. (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 :CNXT) today announced that a jury in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey reached a verdict on 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. counterclaims filed by Texas Instruments, Inc., Stanford University and its Board of Trustees board of trustees Politics The posse of thugs who oversee an institution's administration. See Board of directors. , and Stanford University OTL OTL Office of Technology Licensing OTL Out To Lunch OTL Overtime Loss (hockey) OTL Over The Line (tournament in San Diego, CA, USA) OTL Output Transformer-Less (audio systems) , LLC (Logical Link Control) See "LANs" under data link protocol. LLC - Logical Link Control (Texas Instruments) and found that GlobespanVirata, now a subsidiary of Conexant, 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) infringed three patents related to asymmetric digital subscriber line (communications, protocol) Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line - (ADSL, or Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Loop) A form of Digital Subscriber Line in which the bandwidth available for downstream connection is significantly larger then for upstream. (ADSL See DSL. ADSL - Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line ) technology. In June 2003, GlobespanVirata, which merged with Conexant in February 2004, filed a complaint against Texas Instruments in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey claiming that Texas Instruments violated U.S. antitrust law antitrust law Any law restricting business practices that are considered unfair or monopolistic. Among U.S. laws, the best known is the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, which declared illegal “every contract, combination…or conspiracy in restraint of trade or by creating an illegal patent pool, manipulating the patent process, and abusing the process for setting standards related to ADSL technology. In August 2003, Texas Instruments filed counterclaims alleging that GlobespanVirata infringed certain ADSL patents. In mid-2004, the case was split into two phases, patent and antitrust, with the patent phase going to trial first. Upon the merger of GlobespanVirata and Conexant in February 2004, Conexant inherited this legal dispute. The trial on the patent phase commenced on Jan. 4, 2006 in federal district court in Trenton, New Jersey. Today, the jury announced its verdict and awarded $112 million in damages to Texas Instruments, which the judge in the case has the authority to enhance. In this two-phase case, no payment of damages, whether from Conexant to Texas Instruments, or from Texas Instruments to Conexant, will be required until the conclusion of the second phase. The jury trial for the second phase is currently scheduled for October of this year. "We are extremely disappointed with the jury's verdict in the first phase of the case and plan to file several post-trial motions and an appeal," said Dennis O'Reilly, Conexant senior vice president and chief legal officer. "The second phase of the case, which we believe involves a serious violation of U.S. antitrust law by Texas Instruments, is scheduled to begin in the fall. Should we prevail on all claims in the antitrust phase, the damages awarded today would be eliminated, and we would expect significant damages to be awarded to Conexant from Texas Instruments." About Conexant Conexant's innovative semiconductor solutions are driving broadband communications and digital home networks worldwide. The company has leveraged its expertise and leadership position in modem technologies to enable more Internet connections than all of its competitors combined, and continues to develop highly integrated silicon solutions for broadband data and media processing networks. Key products include client-side xDSL and cable modem solutions, home network processors, broadcast video encoders and decoders, digital set-top box components and systems solutions, and dial-up modems. Conexant's suite of networking components includes a leadership portfolio of IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, New York, www.ieee.org) A membership organization that includes engineers, scientists and students in electronics and allied fields. 802.11a/b/g-compliant WLAN See wireless LAN. WLAN - wireless local area network chipsets, software and reference designs, as well as solutions for applications based on HomePlug(TM) and HomePNA(TM). The company also offers a complete line of asymmetric and symmetric DSL central office solutions, which are used by service providers worldwide to deliver broadband data, voice, and video over copper telephone lines. Conexant is a fabless semiconductor company A fabless semiconductor company specializes in the design and sale of hardware devices implemented on semiconductor chips. It achieves an advantage by outsourcing the fabrication of the devices to a specialized semiconductor manufacturer called a semiconductor foundry or "fab. with an annual revenue run-rate in excess of $900 million. The company has approximately 2,500 employees worldwide, and is headquartered in Newport Beach, Calif. To learn more, please visit www.conexant.com. Safe Harbor Statement "Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA) implemented several significant substantive changes affecting certain cases brought under the federal securities laws, including changes related to pleading, discovery, liability, class representation and awards fees and of 1995: This release includes forward-looking statements intended to qualify for the safe harbor from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements generally can be identified by phrases such as Conexant or its management "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "foresees," "forecasts," "estimates" or other words or phrases of similar import. Similarly, statements in this release that describe our business strategy, outlook, objectives, plans, intentions or goals also are forward-looking statements. All such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: general economic and political conditions and conditions in the markets we address; the substantial losses the company has incurred recently; the cyclical nature of the semiconductor industry and the markets addressed by the company's and its customers' products; continuing volatility in the technology sector and the semiconductor industry; demand for and market acceptance of new and existing products; successful development of new products; the timing of new product introductions and product quality; the company's ability to anticipate trends and develop products for which there will be market demand; the availability of manufacturing capacity; pricing pressures and other competitive factors; changes in product mix; product obsolescence ob·so·les·cent adj. 1. Being in the process of passing out of use or usefulness; becoming obsolete. 2. Biology Gradually disappearing; imperfectly or only slightly developed. ; the ability of our customers to manage inventory; the ability to develop and implement new technologies and to obtain protection for the related intellectual property; the uncertainties of 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. and the demands it may place on the time and attention of company management; and possible disruptions in commerce related to terrorist activity or armed conflict, as well as other risks and uncertainties, including those detailed from time to time in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The forward-looking statements are made only as of the date hereof. We undertake no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Conexant is a registered trademark of Conexant Systems, Inc. Other brands and names contained in this release are the property of their respective owners. |
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