BELLEVUE, Wash., June 29, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Timeline Inc. (OTCBB:TMLN) announced it has filed a patent infringement action against ProClarity Corporation, a private company headquartered in Boise, Idaho. This action, filed in the Federal District Court for Western Washington, seeks substantial damages and to enjoin ProClarity from any further licensing of certain ProClarity software modules in the United States. ProClarity is a provider of reporting and data visualization products with an emphasis on analytic solutions based on Microsoft's Analysis Services module; a part of Microsoft's SQL Server data base management system.
"ProClarity is a market leader in providing add-on products to run on Microsoft's SQL Server data base systems," stated Charles R. Osenbaugh, President and CEO of Timeline. For the past three years, ProClarity has been named to the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 and Inc. Magazine 500 based on achieving 1,126% five-year revenue growth with revenues estimated at $15 million at December 31, 2003. "We believe a good portion of ProClarity's revenue stream was generated by software products which infringe Timeline's patents. Furthermore, ProClarity also offers a platform development product on which other software developers may develop infringing product."
Timeline alleges ProClarity has failed to properly honor Timeline's patent rights when its products are used in combination with Microsoft's SQL Server. Microsoft has publicly stated it encourages companies to undertake a patent review of their technology and, if there is an issue, to discuss it directly with Timeline. In addition, the Washington Court of Appeals has stated the responsible party for each material step in an infringement by a combination including Microsoft products requires its own license. "Yet, we continue to have difficulty gaining compliance in this industry segment," Osenbaugh continued.
"We have tried repeatedly to gain compliance without litigation," Osenbaugh continued. "In the case of ProClarity, we have been in communication on this topic for years. For that reason, we are seeking punitive treble damages, a statutory remedy for willful infringement after notice. We hope the ProClarity litigation will demonstrate the necessity for all ISVs to honor Timeline patents in their own product design."
Timeline has previously licensed patents to many market leading software providers. While the ProClarity litigation involves patents issued in the United States, Timeline has also been granted patents in Australia, Canada, Israel, Mexico, China, Hong Kong and Singapore.
"Protecting against infringement is important to our licensees, shareholders, employees, and analytic applications customers; all of whom have invested heavily in obtaining a competitive advantage through proper access to this technology," Osenbaugh concluded.
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About Timeline
Timeline develops, markets and supports proven, Microsoft Windows-based financial management reporting software suitable for complex applications such as those found in medium to large, multinational corporations. Timeline Analyst was developed for Windows and Office and takes full advantage of Microsoft's latest operating systems. Timeline can be reached at 800-342-3365 or on the web at www.timeline.com. WorkWise Software, Inc., a subsidiary of Timeline, is the leading provider of event-based notifications, application integration and process automation systems to the mid-market. The WorkWise solutions are exclusively available through authorized OEM and Reseller Business Partners.
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements in this news release looking forward in time involve risks and uncertainties, including the outcome of prospective litigations and the cost related thereto, the company's ability to realize value from patented technology, and other risk factors detailed in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Use of the words such as "believe" in this news release is intended to identify these forward-looking statements, although it is not the exclusive means of doing so.