From: price@mrktng.enet.dec.com ("Dave Price,Press Relations  01-Oct-1992 1445")
Subject: DECnews/Digital Wins German Patent Dispute
Date: Thu, 1 Oct 92 11:54:24 PDT
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                                              Digital Equipment Corporation
                                          Maynard, Massachusetts 01754-2571
Editorial contact:

Nikki Richardson 
Digital Equipment Corporation
(508) 493-6369





                 DIGITAL WINS GERMAN PATENT DISPUTE

    German Patent Court Rejects MTI's Challenge to SDI/STI Patent



MAYNARD, Mass. -- September 30, 1992 -- Digital Equipment Corporation 
announced today that the German Patent Court in Munich has upheld the 
validity of Digital's Standard Disk Interconnect/Standard Tape 
Interconnect (SDI/STI) encoder/decoder patent challenged by Micro 
Technology GmbH, the German subsidiary of Micro Technology, Inc. 
(MTI) of Anaheim, California. 
     After a hearing by a five-judge panel on September 24, 1992, the 
German Patent Court rejected MTI's attacks on Digital's patent and, 
for the purpose of setting court and attorney fees, valued this 
patent at no less than DM 20 million.
     MTI's challenge in Munich was an offensive gambit initiated 
after Digital had filed a patent infringement suit in July of 1991 in 
the Hamburg District Court for MTI's use of the SDI/STI technology in 
Germany. 
     In June of 1992, the Hamburg court ruled that the SDI/STI 
encoder/decoder patent was indeed infringed by SDI/STI products 
offered for sale by MTI in Germany.  The enforcement of this decision 
against continued infringement was stayed pending appeal by MTI's 
posting of a DM 15 million bond. 
     In light of Thursday's German Patent Court decision, Digital has 
asked for an expedited decision on MTI's appeal of the June 
infringement ruling. Digital will also urge the Hamburg District 
Court to proceed with an accounting of the damages owed Digital by 
MTI for infringement of this SDI/STI encoder/decoder patent.  In 
addition, Digital will ask the Hamburg court for an infringement 
decision on the second of four SDI/STI patents it has asserted 
against MTI. 
     MTI is the only company that so far has refused Digital's offer 
to sign a phase-out agreement for this technology. More than 20 
companies have agreed to Digital's phase-out program, which allows 
them time to make a transition in their product lines to 
non-infringing technology. When MTI rejected the notion of a 
voluntary phase-out, Digital filed patent infringement suits in both 
Hamburg and Denver, Colorado. A trial is expected next spring in 
Denver.   
     Digital's Vice President Charles F. Christ said, "These two 
decisions in Germany -- one holding the SDI/STI encoder/decoder 
patent valid, and the earlier ruling that this same patent was 
infringed -- should put to rest any doubts about Digital's ability to 
protect its intellectual property rights in the SDI/STI technology.  
It is our intention to end this dispute once and for all by 
continuing to vigorously prosecute the infringement actions in 
Hamburg and Denver."
     Digital Equipment Corporation, headquartered in Maynard, 
Massachusetts, is the leading worldwide supplier of networked 
computer systems, software and services.  Digital pioneered and 
leads the industry in interactive, distributed and multivendor 
computing. Digital and its partners deliver the power to use the 
best integrated solutions - from desktop to data center - in open 
information environments.
                                 ####

CORP/93/834

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