VRINGO ANNOUNCES FAVORABLE RULING REGARDING PATENT VALIDTY IN GERMAN PATENTS COURT
Validity Upheld on Amended 3G Infrastructure Claims
NEW YORK - July 6, 2015 - Vringo, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRNG), a company engaged in the innovation, development and monetization of intellectual property, today announced that the German Patents Court has issued a ruling on the validity of the German part of European Patent 1,212,919 (the "'919 Patent"), owned by Vringo's wholly-owned subsidiary Vringo Infrastructure, Inc.
The Court, following a hearing held on March 4, 2015, held that the '919 Patent claims that read on handover between radio network controllers, a key part of 3G infrastructure technology, were held valid as amended.
Vringo's infringement claims against ZTE on the '919 Patent alleging infringement of ZTE's 3G and 4G infrastructure equipment are pending before the Düsseldorf Regional Court, where they are scheduled to be heard on February 25, 2016. In Germany, damages are calculable from one month after the publication of the grant of the patent, which, in the case of the '919 Patent, was October 8, 2010. ZTE entered the European market in 2002 and has had a substantial presence in Germany for many years.
"We are pleased with the claims that were held valid by the German Patents Court and look forward to the hearing on infringement of these claims in the first quarter of next year," said David Cohen, Vringo's Chief Legal and Intellectual Property Officer.
The '919 Patent is the German counterpart of the patent previously found by the High Court of Justice, Chancery Division, Patents Court in the United Kingdom to be infringed by ZTE and valid as amended. In the UK ZTE has forfeited its right to appeal. The '919 Patent is also the German counterpart of the patent found, prima facie, infringed by ZTE in Brazil, where the Court of Justice of Rio de Janeiro has issued an ex-parte preliminary injunction against ZTE, which remains in place pending trial on the merits. To date ZTE has attempted to have the injunction in Brazil lifted seven times, all of their attempts have been rejected by numerous courts.
About Vringo, Inc.
Vringo, Inc. is engaged in the innovation, development and monetization of intellectual property and mobile technologies. Vringo's intellectual property portfolio consists of over 600 patents and patent applications covering telecom infrastructure, internet search, and mobile technologies. The patents and patent applications have been developed internally, and acquired from third parties. For more information, visit:www.vringo.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes forward-looking statements, which may be identified by words such as "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "estimates," "projects," "intends," "should," "seeks," "future," "continue," or the negative of such terms, or other comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained herein. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, but are not limited to: our inability to license and monetize our patents, including the outcome of the litigation against online search firms and other companies; our inability to monetize and recoup our investment with respect to patent assets that we acquire; our inability to develop and introduce new products and/or develop new intellectual property; new legislation, regulations or court rulings related to enforcing patents, that could harm our business and operating results; unexpected trends in the mobile phone and telecom infrastructure industries; our inability to raise additional capital to fund our combined operations and business plan; our inability to maintain the listing of our securities on a major securities exchange; the potential lack of market acceptance of our products; potential competition from other providers and products; our inability to retain key members of our management team; the future success of Infomedia and our ability to receive value from its stock; and other risks and uncertainties and other factors discussed from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including our annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 10, 2014. Vringo expressly disclaims any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements contained herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
Contacts:
Investors and Media:
Cliff Weinstein
Executive Vice President
Vringo, Inc.
646-532-6777
cweinstein@vringoinc.com