SmartMetric Updates Patent and Patent Infringement Case Against Visa and MasterCard

BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA--(Marketwire - Nov 17, 2011) - SmartMetric, Inc. (OTCBB: SMME) - President & CEO of SmartMetric, Inc., C. Hendrick said today that during the course of the last 12 months, the company has embarked on a legal course to defend its Patent, Patent No. 6,792,464 (the "'464 Patent") from obvious and blatant infringement. This last summer, the court gave a ruling in a "Markman" hearing dealing with what key language "definition" of terms used in the '464 Patent meant.

There are two kinds of technology in dispute in our Patent infringement lawsuit, namely one using "contactless" cards and another technology that uses "contact" cards. The court's ruling on definitions in our '464 Patent said that according to the Judge, our Patent did not cover "contactless" cards. However in the same ruling the Judge confirmed that our Patent does cover "contact" cards. This is hardly a loss to SmartMetric, Inc. as more than 95% of the Banking and Credit Card market uses "contact" cards. Contactless cards cannot be used in standard ATMs and most retail card readers do not accept "contactless" cards. However the majority of ATMs and retail Point of Sale (POS) machines read contact chip cards in most advanced economies in the world. So while the court ruling was not favorable in respect to what is a very small card market, contactless cards, SmartMetric believes the Credit Card companies have had a huge loss in this court ruling as it leaves 95% of their card business exposed to the ongoing, more precisely defined SmartMetric Patent litigation.

SmartMetric withdrew its original lawsuit, not because it "lost," but because it wanted to refile and expand its claims against the Card Companies using the victorious points from the Markman hearing. To that regard, SmartMetric, Inc. has subsequently filed an expanded and more detailed lawsuit that is now before the courts.

The company has in a separate action, filed an appeal to what it believes as the wrongful ruling of the court in respect to "contactless" cards. Irrespective of whether, on this aspect of the technology and Patent the company wins or loses, is far less material to SmartMetric since again the biggest usage of cards by banks around the world is "contact" cards which again, was not excluded from the courts previous ruling.

C. Hendrick, SmartMetric President and CEO, stated: "We are very pleased with our experienced legal teams actions in this regard. We are highly confident and optimistic in our unwavering pursuit of justice against the global banks and card issuers that are blatantly violating our Patent."

About SmartMetric, Inc.

SmartMetric, Inc. has developed a portable biometric identity and transaction card capable of storing a wide variety of personal information while protecting you against identity theft and fraud. It is one of the most advanced portable identity authentication solutions in the world today. The card contains a biometric fingerprint scanner and reader which only you can unlock and is smaller and thinner than a credit card. The SmartMetric card is ideal for a wide range of consumers, including Personal, Government and Corporate.

For more information please visit us at www.smartmetric.com

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