EFI's PATENT LITIGATION VICTORY ON INKJET TECHNOLOGY

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Date: Tuesday November 17, 2009 10:22:19 am
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    EFI’s PATENT LITIGATION VICTORY ON
    INKJET TECHNOLOGY

    FOSTER CITY,
    Calif. — Electronics For Imaging, Inc., a world leader in
    customer-focused digital printing innovation, and its superwide format
    printer unit VUTEk today announced total victory in patent litigation
    with Leggett & Platt (L&P) involving EFI’s ultra-violet (UV) ink
    curing technology.After a string of successful summary judgment
    motions, one of which was affirmed by the Court of Appeals for the
    Federal Circuit, EFI has reached a non-confidential settlement with
    L&P that does not require any payment from EFI to L&P. L&P
    dismissed all of its claims against EFI and promised not to sue EFI or
    any of its customers based on a claim that EFI products infringe any of
    the patents-in-suit or any related patent.

    L&P first filed
    the lawsuit in May 2005 against VUTEk during EFI’s acquisition of the
    innovative superwide format printer business. L&P claimed that its
    patent (U.S. Patent No. 6,755,518) covered VUTEk’s technology. From the
    outset EFI maintained that VUTEk invented and patented the technologies
    first (U.S. Patent Nos. 6,457,823 and 6,616,355). The US District Court
    in St. Louis agreed with EFI, invalidating all of L&P’s asserted
    patent claims and ordering L&P to pay EFI’s costs to defend the
    lawsuit. The US Federal Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that
    conclusion in its entirety. In July 2009, the US District Court held
    that a second L&P patent (U.S. Patent No. 7,290,874) is also invalid
    in light of EFI’s patents and printer design technology.

    On
    April 21, 2009, L&P sued EFI again, alleging infringement of a third
    L&P patent (U.S. Patent No. 7,520,602). As with the two other
    patents, EFI moved for summary judgment to invalidate this third patent
    using the same prior art previously relied upon by the court. Faced with
    the very real possibility of losing a third patent, L&P approached
    EFI to settle the dispute. Under the settlement, EFI will pay nothing,
    agreeing to dismiss its claims that the ‘602 patent is invalid and to
    not oppose L&P’s motion to vacate the July 2009 decision
    invalidating the ‘874 patent. L&P dismissed all claims against EFI
    and promised not to sue EFI or its customers under these patents or any
    related patent.”We are very pleased with this result. A settlement like
    this-with a patent plaintiff walking away with no payment whatsoever-is
    rare in modern patent litigation,” said EFI’s General Counsel Bryan Ko.
    “This settlement establishes conclusively what we’ve maintained all
    along: that EFI invented and patented this technology first.”

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