Vicor Announces Reissue of Reset Patent by U.S. Patent Office

Business Wire, Feb 17, 1999

ANDOVER, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 17, 1999--Vicor Corporation ("Vicor") today announced that on February 16, 1999, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued U.S. patent RE36,098 (the "Reissue Patent") as a reissue of U.S. Patent 4,441,146 (the "Reset Patent"). The Reissue Patent includes original claims 1 through 5 of the Reset Patent plus 38 additional new claims. The claims in the Reissue Patent cover non-coincident active clamp technology in a broadly defined class of single-ended forward converters and enable design of power converters which are smaller and more energy efficient than conventional power supplies. The claims cover, but are not limited to, so-called "zero-voltage switching" (ZVS) technology. Vicor believes that its rights under the Reset Patent and the Reissue Patent have been and are being infringed.

Vicor filed an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ("PTO") for reissue of its U.S. Reset Patent in October, 1995. The U.S. Patent Office has ruled on three separate occasions, in response to submissions by the patentee and a protest filed by a third party, that the subject matter of the U.S. Reset Patent is novel and patentable over the prior art. The full text of the Reissue Patent, along with all of its claims and a complete list of cited references, can be accessed by opening the PTO web patent database at www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html, selecting the "Patent Number Search" option under the "US Patent Full Text Database" section, and entering the Reissue Patent number (RE36,098) in the following screen.

Vicor has entered into Reset Patents licenses with power supply manufacturers and original equipment manufacturers, including Delta Electronics, Nagano Japan Radio Corporation, NEC Corporation and Reltec Corporation. Standard license terms provide rights to manufacture, use and sell standard, custom and high-density DC-DC converter products which incorporate technology covered by the Reset Patent and its reissues and foreign counterparts.

Vicor has made, and continues to make, significant investments in Research & Development and has taken and will continue to take appropriate steps, as necessary, to enforce its patent rights against infringers.

For information, call Jay M. Prager, Senior Vice President, Technology and Intellectual Property, at Vicor Corporation, 978-749-8235.

Vicor Corporation (NASDAQ NMS:VICR) designs, develops, manufactures and markets modular power components and complete power systems based upon a portfolio of patented technologies. For the fiscal year ending December 31,1998, Vicor had revenues of $164 million. Vicor Corporation is headquartered in Andover, Massachusetts, USA.