The ITC Has Again Made a Final Determination Concluding That Macronix Products Do Not Infringe Atmel's Patent.

Business Editors & Legal Writers

FREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 5, 2001

Macronix International Co. Ltd. and Macronix America Inc. (collectively "Macronix") announced that the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) issued on June 1, 2001, a final determination in Investigation No. 337-TA-395 in favor of Macronix, finding that (a) Macronix's products do not infringe Atmel's letter patent 4,451,903 ("the '903 patent") and (b) Macronix did not violate Section 337 of the Tariff Act.

The ITC further ordered that the investigation proceeding against Macronix be terminated and that its ruling be published in the United States' Federal Register.

Macronix welcomes the ITC's ruling, which once again confirms the fact that Macronix's products do not infringe, as Macronix has consistently demonstrated during this four-year investigation.

The ITC instituted an investigation based upon the complaint filed by Atmel Corp. in March 1997. During the investigation, Macronix has always cooperated in good faith with the ITC in all respects, confident that a full investigation would show that Macronix has not violated Atmel's patents.

The ITC had issued an initial determination in July 1998 ruling that Macronix did not infringe the '903 patent based on all of the evidence and extensive fact-finding. At each stage of the proceedings during the past four-year investigation, the independent ITC authorities who reviewed the substance of the infringement claims lodged by Atmel concluded that Macronix did not infringe.

In the ITC's October 2000 final determination issued in its reconsideration proceeding, which issued an exclusion order against the other parties, the ITC still concluded that Macronix was the sole respondent that did not infringe the '903 patent and that Macronix was permitted to continue to import products into the United States.

Atmel appealed the ITC finding of Macronix's noninfringement to the Federal Circuit, which issued a decision on Jan. 30, 2001, remanding the case to the ITC for further determination of whether Macronix's products infringed the '903 patent in light of the new patent claim construction announced by the Federal Circuit.

The ITC has now ruled once again that Macronix's products do not infringe the '903 patent and that Macronix did not violate Section 337 of the Tariff Act or any other laws. Hence, the sales of Macronix's products, including EPROM and Flash, in the United States are lawful and permissible.

Macronix is one of the leading manufacturers of nonvolatile memories in the industry. Macronix devotes about 10 percent of its revenue to the research and development of more advanced products. Macronix also makes great effort to enforce its intellectual-property rights in order to protect its high-value products and maintain its business advantage.