'672 Patent Litigation Centralized and Transferred to the US District Court for the Northern District of California
AUSTIN, TX, Feb. 17, 2005 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) -- Forgent Networks (NASDAQ: FORG) along with its wholly owned subsidiary, Compression Labs, Inc. ("CLI"), today announced that the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation ("MDL Panel") ordered that eight actions arising out of the infringement of Forgent's still-image compression technology, embodied in U.S. Patent No. 4,698,672 ('672 Patent), be transferred to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The MDL Panel also ordered the actions be assigned to the Honorable Phyllis J. Hamilton, of the Northern District of California, with the consent of that court, for coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings. These actions were pending in three US District Courts including the Northern District of California, the District of Delaware, and the Eastern District of Texas.
"We are very pleased that the various cases were centralized, thus simplifying this large and very complicated action. We have always been aware the MDL Panel could transfer the litigation. The California court is a well-known forum for litigating intellectual property claims and has the resources required to handle this complex proceeding," said Richard Snyder, chairman and CEO of Forgent. "This change may affect the timeline, however we believe the case will pick up where it left off when the litigation resumes in California."
The role of the MDL Panel is to 1) determine whether civil actions pending in different federal districts involve one or more common questions of fact such that the actions should be transferred to one federal district for coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings; and 2) select the judge or judges and court assigned to conduct such proceedings. The purpose of this transfer or "centralization" process is to avoid duplication of discovery, to prevent inconsistent pretrial rulings, and to conserve the resources of the parties, their counsel and the judiciary. For more information on the MDL Panel, please visit www.jpml.uscourts.gov.
Since its inception three years ago, Forgent's intellectual property program has generated more than $100 million from licensing the '672 Patent to more than 35 different companies in Asia, Europe and the United States. The '672 Patent relates to digital image compression, and fields of use include digital still image devices used to compress, store, manipulate, print or transmit digital still images such as digital cameras, personal digital assistants, cellular telephones, printers, scanners, and certain software applications. The company's patent portfolio includes the combined inventions of Compression Labs, Inc., VTEL Corporation, and Forgent Networks, Inc.
About Forgent
Forgent Networks (NASDAQ: FORG) develops and licenses intellectual property and provides scheduling software to a wide variety of customers. Forgent's intellectual property licensing program is related to communication technologies developed from a diverse and growing patent portfolio. Forgent's software division, NetSimplicity provides a spectrum of scheduling software that enables all sizes of organizations to streamline the scheduling of people, places and things. For additional information please visit www.forgent.com.
Safe Harbor
This release may include projections and other forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties and as such, actual results in future periods may differ materially from those currently expected or desired. Some of the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include changes in the general economy and the technology industry, rapid changes in technology, sales cycle and product implementations, risks associated with transitioning to a new business model and the subsequent limited operating history, the possibility of new entrants into the collaboration management market, the possibility that the market for the sale of certain software and services may not develop as expected; that development of these software and services may not proceed as planned, risks associated with the company's license program, including risks of litigation involving intellectual property, patents and trademarks, acquisition integration, and the ability to consummate certain divestiture transactions. Additional discussion of these and other risk factors affecting the company's business and prospects is contained in the company's periodic filings with the SEC.
Investor contact:
Michael Noonan
512.437.2476
michael_noonan@forgent.com
Media contact:
Lee Higgins
512.794-8600
lee@petersgrouppr.com
SOURCE: Forgent Networks