From: tnixon@hayes.com
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.modems
Subject: Hayes Press Release: Appals Court Upholds Escape Sequence Patent
Date: 25 Dec 92 12:19:01 EDT
Organization: Hayes Microcomputer Products, Norcross, GA

Notice: The following Hayes press release is provided for news and 
information purposes only and is not intended to be construed as a 
commercial advertisement or solicitation.  [This one isn't, in fact,
a product announcement, but a news item that I thought many of you 
might be interested in.]


                     APPEAL COURT UPHOLDS HAYES PATENT

        ATLANTA, GA, 23 December 1992 -- U. S. modem manufacturer Hayes 
Microcomputer Products, Inc. today announced that the  U. S. Court of 
Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D. C.,  affirmed in all 
respects the judgment of Federal Judge Samuel A. Conti after a Jury 
verdict in favor of Hayes.  

        In the January 1991 San Francisco trial, the Jury found that the 
Hayes Improved Escape Sequence with Guard Time Patent (Hayes '302) was 
valid, enforceable, and willfully infringed by the defendants, Everex 
Systems, Inc., Ven-Tel, Inc. and OmniTel, Inc.  Because the Jury had found 
that the infringement by the defendants was willful, Judge Conti later 
granted additional damages and attorneys' fees to Hayes.  The defendants 
appealed this decision on a number of grounds.  Everex and OmniTel later 
settled with Hayes and took a license under the Hayes '302 Patent, leaving 
Ven-Tel to continue the appeal which has now been denied.

        In an exhaustive 42-page analysis, the Court of Appeals affirmed 
the judgment in all respects, finding that the patent adequately disclosed 
the invention and that all of the attacks by the infringers were 
ineffective.  The Court of Appeals also held that Hayes properly disclosed 
in the Patent the best mode for implementing the invention .  Ven-Tel and 
the other infringers had made the claim during the trial that the 
invention would have been obvious at the time the invention was made and 
that the Patent was therefore invalid under the U.S. patent laws.  The 
Court of Appeals reviewed all of the evidence and found no support for 
that argument. 

        The Court of Appeals also ruled that Hayes properly proved 
willful infringement of the Patent.  The Court approved the Jury's finding 
that required the infringing defendants to pay a royalty of 1.75% of their 
modem sales.  The Appellate Court affirmed the ruling of the Trial Judge 
that the infringing party, Ven-Tel, Inc., was required to pay twice the 
amount of damages awarded by the Jury as a penalty.  

        Finally, the  Appellate Court "deplore[d] the unfounded 
accusations of inequitable conduct" made by the infringers at the patent 
trial against Hayes.  The Appellate Court therefore cleared Hayes of any 
claim of fraud or inequitable conduct in obtaining the Patent.

        This ruling comes on the eve of another patent infringement 
trial, this time involving Multi-Tech Systems, Inc.   A trial date has 
been set for 4 January 1993 in United States District Court, Minneapolis, 
Minnesota.  The 4 January trial date in Minneapolis is coincidentally the 
same date Hayes began its trial in California two years ago.  It is also 
noteworthy that Multi-Tech, like Ven-Tel, filed suit against Hayes 
challenging the Patent despite having been given an opportunity to license 
the Hayes '302 Patent.  

        "Judge Conti, a Jury, and now the Federal Circuit Court of 
Appeals have all conducted an extensive review of the claims and issues 
regarding this Patent, and confirmed its validity, enforceability and 
willful infringement,"  said Hayes President Dennis C. Hayes.  "We expect 
the same favorable decision in the upcoming jury trial against Multi-Tech 
in Minneapolis."

        The Hayes escape sequence technology, first introduced in Hayes 
Smartmodem products in 1981 and issued as U. S. Patent Number 4,549,302 on 
25 October 1985, is now a data communications feature  for modems, ISDN, 
and other data communications applications, with over 26 million units 
shipped to date worldwide.  The Hayes '302 patent, which has become the 
industry standard escape sequence due to its proven reliability after 11 
years of use, has been licensed by 25 manufacturers.

        Best known as the leader in microcomputer modems, Hayes develops, 
supplies and supports computer communications equipment and software for 
personal computer and computer communications networks.  The company 
distributes its products in over 60 countries through a global network of 
authorized distributors, dealers, mass merchants, VARs, systems 
integrators and original equipment manufacturers.

                                    ###
-- 
Toby Nixon, Principal Engineer      | Voice   +1-404-840-9200  Telex 401243420
Hayes Microcomputer Products, Inc.  | Fax     +1-404-447-0178  CIS   70271,404
P.O. Box 105203                     | BBS     +1-404-446-6336  AT&T    !tnixon
Atlanta, Georgia  30348             | UUCP uunet!hayes!tnixon  Fido   1:114/15
USA                                 | Internet                tnixon@hayes.com