Court rules in favor of View Engineering in RVSI patent suit and awards attorneys' fees.

SIMI VALLEY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 3, 1996--View Engineering Wednesday announced a favorable decision in U.S. District Court, defeating a patent infringement suit brought by Robotic Vision Systems Inc. (RVSI).

On Wednesday, June 26, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California granted the motion for summary judgment previously filed by View Engineering. Prior to the judgment by the court, RVSI had dropped five of the eight patents for which they claimed infringement. On Wednesday, the court dismissed all claims of infringement of the three remaining patents. In addition, the court sanctioned the attorneys representing RVSI under Rule 11, ordering reimbursement to View for 75 percent of its attorneys' fees and costs.

Thomas R. Swain, president and CEO of View Engineering, stated, "We are pleased with the decisive action of the court and feel the court's decisions speak for themselves, particularly the award of attorneys' fees."

This decision follows previous court judgments in View's favor, based on another patent infringement claim by RVSI. View defeated actions for an injunction and a temporary restraining order, and then invalidated the patent claims upon which RVSI had based its infringement suit.

In 1995, soon after View's introduction of advanced technology with its Model 880 product line, RVSI brought two patent infringement suits involving nine patents against View. All of these claims have either been withdrawn by RVSI or judgments have been rendered in favor of View Engineering.

RVSI has one remaining patent infringement claim against View which was filed in April 1996. Swain stated, "This most recent patent claim involves technology that View originally developed, and we believe our ability to prove non-infringement, and possibly to invalidate, is on firm footing." He added, "We believe that all this litigation has been directed at creating short-term market advantage through confusion and uncertainty. View prefers, instead, to compete in the marketplace and let our customers make the final judgment with their purchasing decisions."

Founded in 1976, View Engineering has long been a technology leader in high-precision, laser and vision-based non-contact measurement and inspection systems. View has been responsible for many significant firsts, including the first vision-based pattern recognition and alignment system and the first 2-D and 3-D metrology systems. The company is organized to serve three markets: General Metrology, Semiconductor Package Inspection, and Solder Paste and Component Placement Measurement.

CONTACT: View Engineering Inc., Ann Arbor

Steve Crang, 313/332-7664

313/332-7799 (fax)

or

Oddo/Coke-Kerr, San Marcos

Andy CokeKerr, 619/471-2330

619/471-6593 (fax)

e-mail: [e-mail]