VRINGO PROVIDES UPDATE ON CHALLENGES TO VALIDITY OF VRINGO PATENTS
NEW YORK - October 28, 2015 - Vringo, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRNG), a company engaged in the innovation, development and monetization of intellectual property as well as the commercialization and distribution of wire-free charging and rugged computing devices, today provided an update on ZTE's challenges to the validity of Vringo's patents in China and the Netherlands.
In China, the Patent Re-Examination Board of the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China today, following an earlier oral hearing, upheld the validity of ZL200580013835.X in response to a re-examination request filed by ZTE. This patent is the Chinese equivalent of IN 243,980, which is currently being asserted against ZTE in India. This was ZTE's second attempt to invalidate the patent, following ZTE's withdrawal of its first re-examination request.
ZTE has filed re-examination requests for 33 of Vringo's Chinese Patents. To date, 18 of those patents have been maintained valid, 2 have been maintained valid-in-part, and 13 have been found invalid, and are pending appeal.
In the Netherlands, today, the District Court of the Hague, the Netherlands has found the Dutch part of European Patent 1,186,119 ("EP 119") invalid. Vringo plans to appeal today's ruling.
On October 23, 2014, ZTE's Dutch subsidiary filed a lawsuit asking the Court to declare the Dutch part of EP 119 invalid. Today, following a hearing on September 4, 2015, the Court granted ZTE's request, finding the Dutch part of EP 119 invalid. This decision deviates from an earlier decision rendered by the President of the same Court, on October 24, 2014, rejecting ZTE's invalidity arguments and affirming the seizure of ZTE's products detained by Dutch customs under the Anti Piracy Regulation.
Previously, the validity of EP 119 was confirmed by both the Opposition Division and the Technical Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office, following opposition proceedings initiated by Qualcomm.
In Germany, Vringo continues to enforce an injunction against ZTE based on EP 119, which was issued by a German court on December 17, 2013 upon finding that ZTE infringed EP 119. The injunction remains in place following today's ruling. In addition, on July 23, 2015, the German Patents Court issued a preliminary opinion regarding ZTE's invalidity arguments with respect to EP 119, holding the preliminary view that EP 119 is valid.
Today's decision in the Netherlands will be suspended pending Vringo's appeal.
About Vringo, Inc.
Vringo, Inc. is engaged in the innovation, development and monetization of intellectual property as well as the commercialization and distribution of wire-free charging and rugged computing devices. Vringo's intellectual property portfolio consists of over 600 patents and patent applications covering telecom infrastructure, internet search, ad-insertion, mobile and wire-free charging technologies. Vringo's subsidiary fliCharge is dedicated to the licensing and commercialization of wire-free charging technologies. Vringo's subsidiary Group Mobile is dedicated to the marketing and sale of rugged computing devices. 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 ZTE and other companies; our inability to recognize the anticipated benefits of the acquisition of IDG, which may be affected by, among other things, competition, our ability to secure advantageous licensing and sales agreements, market acceptance of IDG's technology, potential technology obsolescence, protection of intellectual property rights and potential liability risks that are inherent in the marketing and sale of products used by consumers; 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; our inability to protect our intellectual property rights; 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; our ability to continue as a going concern; our liquidity 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 16, 2015. 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