Nuance Files Patent Infringement Lawsuit against Tellme Networks, Inc.; Nuance Patents Cover 'Whisper' Technologies and Innovative Database Search Techniques in Directory Assistance and Call Center Applications

Business Wire, Feb 17, 2006

BURLINGTON, Mass. -- Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN), the world's leading supplier of speech and imaging solutions, and Phonetic Systems, Ltd., Nuance's wholly-owned subsidiary, today announced that they have filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Tellme Networks, Inc. in the United States District Court in Delaware.

In their complaint, Nuance and Phonetic Systems assert that Tellme infringes their patents covering valuable features of directory assistance and call center applications, including pioneering "whisper" technologies and advanced database query techniques. In the patent infringement suit, Nuance and Phonetic Systems seek monetary damages for Tellme's infringement as well as injunctive relief to prevent Tellme from continuing to infringe U.S. Patent No. 5,033,088, entitled "Method and Apparatus for Effectively Receiving Voice Input to a Voice Recognition System," and U.S. Patent No. 6,256,630, entitled "Word-Containing Database Accessing System for Responding to Ambiguous Queries, Including a Dictionary of Database Words, a Dictionary Searcher and a Database Searcher."

"Over time, Nuance has invested significant resources in developing technologies and building an intellectual property portfolio that are important components of our strategy and integral to the success of our business," said Jo-Anne Sinclair, vice president and general counsel, at Nuance. "Our IP and technological assets favorably differentiate our directory assistance and call center solutions from other offerings. Nuance values its intellectual property and intends to diligently and vigorously protect its patent rights and prevent infringing use by others."

Nuance holds more than 400 issued and pending patents worldwide in the fields of speech and imaging technologies and has made significant investments in research, development and the acquisition of intellectual property to provide its customers with unique, best-of-breed solutions. The company will continue to drive innovation through the patenting of proprietary technologies.

Nuance Communications, Inc.

Nuance (Nasdaq: NUAN) is the leading provider of speech and imaging solutions for businesses and consumers around the world. Its technologies, applications and services make the user experience more compelling by transforming the way people interact with information and how they create, share and use documents. Every day, millions of users and thousands of businesses experience Nuance's proven applications. For more information, please visit nuance.com.

Nuance and the Nuance logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Nuance Communications, Inc. or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. All other company names or product names may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

Safe Harbor Statement

The foregoing contains "forward-looking statements" which are based on management's beliefs as well as on a number of assumptions concerning future events made by and information currently available to management. Statements regarding our investments in technology, our strategy of protecting our intellectual property rights and any other statements about management's future expectations, beliefs, goals, plans or prospects constitute such forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which are not a guarantee of performance and are subject to a number of uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside Nuance's control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, without limitation: the Company's success in protecting key components of its intellectual property; the Company's success in the lawsuit described above; the ability of the patents mentioned in this release to withstand challenges by competitors; the inherent risks and uncertainties associated with market acceptance of new technologies, as well as the ability to obtain intellectual property protection for additional technologies. For a more detailed description of the factors that could cause such a difference, please see Nuance's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Nuance disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.