GEORGE TOWN, Grand Cayman, May 17, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- O2Micro(R) International Limited (Nasdaq:OIIM) (SEHK:0457) announced today that the jury in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Texas returned a verdict favorable to O2Micro in its patent infringement action against Beyond Innovation Technology Co., Ltd. ("BiTEK"), SPI Electronic Co., Ltd. ("SPI"), FSP Group ("FSP") and Lien Chang Electronic Enterprise Co., Ltd. ("Lien Chang") involving claims 1, 15, 35 and 39 of U.S. Patent Number 6,259,615, claims 12 and 16 of U.S. Patent Number 6,396,722 and claims 13, 16 and 17 of U.S. Patent Number 6,804,129.
The jury found that BiTEK, SPI, FSP and Lien Chang induced infringement by supplying certain inverter controllers and inverter modules to Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. and others for sale in the U.S. The jury also found contributory infringement by Lien Chang of the claims of the O2Micro's patents and that infringement by BiTEK, SPI, FSP and Lien Chang was willful. The Court previously issued judgments as a matter of law that BiTEK, SPI, FSP and Lien Chang failed to present sufficient evidence for a jury to invalidate any of the asserted patents under 35 U.S.C. No. 101, 102, 103 or 112 and invalidity issues were not presented to the jury. A judgment has not been entered and O2Micro expects that BiTEK, SPI, FSP and/or Lien Chang may file post-trial motions with the Court seeking to overturn the jury's decision. After judgment has been entered, BiTEK, SPI, FSP and/or Lien Chang may appeal the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. O2Micro plans to seek an injunction against BiTEK, SPI, FSP and Lien Chang as well as attorneys' fees.
O2Micro was represented by Howrey LLP, Law Offices of Jones & Jones, Inc., Brown McCarroll, L.L.P. and Ireland, Carroll & Kelley, P.C. O2Micro's lead trial counsel was Henry Bunsow. Duane Mathiowetz, Franklin Jones and Calvin Capshaw were at counsel table and were assisted at trial by counsel Otis Carroll, Frank Cote, Vinay Joshi, Patricia Peden and Rick Chang. Jan Lockhart, Nick Mancuso, Greg Johnson, Alex Rennick and Jessika Fabian also assisted.
About O2Micro
Founded in April 1995, O2Micro develops and markets innovative power management, and security components and systems for the Computer, Consumer, Industrial, and Communications markets. Products include Intelligent Lighting, Battery Management, Power Management, SmartCardBus(R) and Security products, such as VPN/Firewall system solutions.
O2Micro International maintains an extensive portfolio of intellectual property with 4,851 patent claims granted, and over 7000 more pending. The company maintains offices worldwide. Additional company and product information can be found on the company website at www.o2micro.com.
O2Micro, the O2Micro logo, SmartCardBus and combinations thereof are registered trademarks of O2Micro.