Verance Announces Stay of Patent Litigation; Agreement Reached With Digimarc After Re-Exam of Digimarc Patents Granted by the U.S. Patent Office

Business Wire, Feb 13, 2001

Business/Entertainment/High-Tech Editors

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 13, 2001

Verance, a developer of watermark technologies for content management, broadcast monitoring and wireless systems and data applications, announced today that it has reached an agreement with Digimarc Corp. (Nasdaq:DMRC) to stay all legal activities surrounding recent patent infringement suits filed by Digimarc.

The agreement comes shortly after the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) granted reexaminations on three of the four Digimarc patents in question. Verance has filed for reexamination on the fourth patent.

The USPTO, in recent public documents, stated that there is "A substantial new question of patentability," affecting Digimarc's patent numbers 5,850,481, 5,832,119 and 5,636,292.

"We are pleased with the USPTO's finding that these patents need to be reconsidered for validity. We have always believed that the infringement suits have been without merit and feel that upon reexamination of the patents, Verance will be vindicated," said Robert Warren, CEO of Verance.

Copies of the grants for reexamination can be obtained through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office using control numbers 90/005.827, 90/005.828 and 90/005.829.

About Verance Corp.

San Diego based Verance is a leader in the development and implementation of watermarking technology solutions focusing on the copyright management, royalty distribution, information and product distribution needs emerging from the confluence of the entertainment, media, and wireless telecommunications industries. Additional information about Verance can be found at www.verance.com.