Court rules against Ampex in Ampex suit against Mitsubishi.REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 18, 1997--Ampex Corp. (ASE (Adaptive Server Enterprise) A relational DBMS from Sybase that runs on Windows NT/2000, Linux and a variety of Unix platforms. ASE is a comprehensive and robust data management product with a long history dating back to the late 1980s. :AXC AXC Chief Aviation Antisubmarine Warfare Technician (Naval Rating) AXC Add Cross-Connect Card ) today announced that Judge Roderick McKelvie of the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware has granted the post-trial motion of Mitsubishi Electric Corp. to set aside the jury's earlier verdict awarding damages to Ampex, based on the defendant's theory of "prosecution history estoppel Prosecution history estoppel, also known as file-wrapper estoppel, is a term used in United States patent law to indicate that a person who has filed a patent application, and then makes amendments to the application to accommodate the patent law, has no cause of action for ." As previously reported, on April 10, 1997, the jury in this case found that Mitsubishi had infringed one of Ampex's patents in connection with the manufacturing of picture-in-picture television receivers, and awarded damages of $8.1 million. The judge ruled that the manner in which the jury had completed its verdict form subjected Ampex's charge of infringement to the defense of prosecution history estoppel, based on which he entered judgment on behalf of Mitsubishi. Ampex is planning to appeal this judgment or to move for a retrial retrial n. a new trial granted upon the motion of the losing party, based on obvious error, bias or newly-discovered evidence. (See: newly-discovered evidence) . An Ampex representative said: "We are disappointed that the court felt constrained to rule against us on the estoppel A legal principle that bars a party from denying or alleging a certain fact owing to that party's previous conduct, allegation, or denial. The rationale behind estoppel is to prevent injustice owing to inconsistency or Fraud. issue, but we are gratified grat·i·fy tr.v. grat·i·fied, grat·i·fy·ing, grat·i·fies 1. To please or satisfy: His achievement gratified his father. See Synonyms at please. 2. that the rulings in this case support Ampex's contentions that, although many of our patents relating to video signal processing resulted from inventions in video recorders and related electronics, these patents are equally applicable to other products, such as televisions, where the inventions may be in use today." The judgment applies only to one of the company's patents which is used in picture-in-picture television sets. Ampex has asserted additional infringement claims against Mitsubishi with respect to infringement of Ampex patents in connection with various VCR VCR: see videocassette recorder. VCR in full videocassette recorder Electromechanical device that records, stores on a videotape cassette, and plays back on a TV set recorded images and sound. products. No date has been set for a trial of these claims. As previously disclosed, no income from the jury's earlier damage award has been recorded in the company's financial statements. Ampex Corp., with headquarters in Redwood City, is one of the world's leading innovators in the fields of magnetic recording, image processing and high-performance digital storage. Currently, Ampex is focusing its technology on the emerging market for mass digital storage in the visual information age. During its 53-year history of innovation, Ampex has been granted thousands of patents and has earned numerous awards for technical achievement. Today, Ampex customers include numerous well-known organizations such as AT&T, Boeing, Mobil Oil, Time Warner and NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration Independent U.S. . -0- Any statements contained herein that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of 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, and involve risks and uncertainties. Information on potential factors which could affect the company's actual results of operations are included in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 1996, and its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended March 31, 1997. CONTACT: Ampex Corp., Redwood City Karen D. Schweikher, 415/367-3888 (Investor Relations) |
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