International Trade Commission to render decision on Xilinx request for investigation

San Jose, Calif., December 4, 2000—Xilinx, Inc. (Nasdaq:XLNX) today announced that it has filed a patent case with the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) to bar Altera Corporation from importing or selling products into the United States that infringe three Xilinx patents that cover important aspects of field programmable gate array technology. The Altera products covered by the ITC filing include all of the Flex, Apex and Acex families. Under the Tariff Act of 1930, the ITC has the authority to conduct such an investigation pursuant to Section 337.  The ITC is expected to make a decision on the Xilinx request for an investigation by December 18, 2000. The three Xilinx patent claims named in this case differ from the two patents upheld by a federal jury  last month in Federal District Court in San Jose, Calif. Xilinx also requested a permanent cease and desist order and other penalties, as the ITC deems appropriate. 

The Xilinx ITC action follows the Xilinx November 17 victory in Federal District Court that found certain Altera products infringed two valid patents owned by Xilinx.  Following the favorable verdict, Xilinx announced its intention to seek a permanent injunction prohibiting Altera from producing, marketing, and selling Altera Flex products and any derivative programmable devices that infringe the two Xilinx patents. 

“As the pioneers of the field programmable gate array industry, we are proud of our history of innovation and invention,” said Wim Roelandts, Xilinx president and CEO. “The favorable jury verdict validates our invention of the FPGA as embodied in the Freeman patent.”

The two patents found infringed by the federal jury are the Xilinx Freeman (Re: #34,363) and Carter (#4,642,487) patents. Claim 21 of the Freeman patent covers the basic architecture of  the FPGA (field programmable gate array) invented by Xilinx founder, Ross Freeman, in 1984.

The company will host a conference call Tuesday, December 5, 2000 at 10 a.m. PST to discuss the above topics in detail. The call may be accessed by calling (415) 537-1808. Post viewing will also be available at (800) 633-8284 (domestic) and (858) 812-6440 (international), reservation #17164138.

About Xilinx
Xilinx is the leading supplier of complete programmable logic solutions, including advanced integrated circuits, software design tools, predefined system functions delivered as cores, and unparalleled field engineering support. Founded in 1984 and headquartered in San Jose, Calif., Xilinx invented the field programmable gate array (FPGA) and fulfills more than half of the world demand for these devices today. Xilinx solutions enable customers to reduce significantly the time required to develop products for the computer, peripheral, telecommunications, networking, industrial control, instrumentation, aerospace, defense, and consumer markets. For more information, visit the Xilinx web site at http://www.xilinx.com.