Contact Information: Contact: Steve Workman Chief Financial Officer 408-548-1000 Investor Relations 408-542-5050 investor.relations@Finisar.com
SUNNYVALE, CA--(Marketwire - April 18, 2008) - Finisar Corporation (NASDAQ : FNSR ), a
technology leader in gigabit fiber optic solutions for high-speed data
networks, today announced that the United States Court of Appeals for the
Federal Circuit has decided the appeal of the patent case Finisar brought
against DirecTV for infringement of U.S. Patent No. 5,404,505. The
invention in question was developed by Finisar co-founder Frank Levinson
and involves methods for transmitting and broadcasting digital information.
At trial, Finisar was awarded $78.9 million by the jury with an additional
$25 million awarded for willful infringement plus back interest and an
ongoing royalty stream. DirecTV appealed the jury's verdict.
The Federal Circuit ruled that the trial court's interpretation of certain
terms in the patent was too broad and it therefore vacated the jury's
verdict of infringement. In doing so, however, the court indicated that
there may still be infringement of the patented methods, even under its
more narrow interpretation. The appeals court also held that claim 16, one
of the seven patent claims at issue, is invalid, but left standing the
remaining six claims for reconsideration by the trial court. The appeals
court also reversed the jury's finding that DirecTV's infringement was
willful.
While Finisar is disappointed in the court's ruling on willfulness and
invalidity of claim 16, it is optimistic that the trial court will once
again find infringement of the remaining six claims. "We remain confident
that the questions of infringement and validity, upon further review by the
trial court, will be decided in favor of Finisar," said Finisar's primary
trial counsel, Larry R. Laycock, of the law firm of Workman Nydegger.
Finisar anticipates that the six remaining claims at issue will be held
valid and infringed and is committed to continuing its enforcement of
intellectual property rights in this matter.
ABOUT FINISAR
Finisar Corporation (NASDAQ : FNSR ) is a global technology leader for fiber
optic components and subsystems and network test and monitoring systems.
These products enable high-speed voice, video and data communications for
networking, storage and wireless applications over Local Area Networks
(LANs), Storage Area Networks (SANs), and Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs)
using Ethernet, Fibre Channel, IP, SAS, SATA and SONET/SDH protocols. The
Company is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, USA. More information
can be found at www.finisar.com.