Link to more information on Xilinx and Altera Litigation

San Jose, Calif., December 18, 2000—Xilinx, Inc. (Nasdaq:XLNX) today announced that the International Trade Commission has decided to investigate Xilinx claims that Altera Corporation is importing products that infringe three Xilinx patents. The decision follows a request by Xilinx, announced two weeks ago, to investigate alleged infringements by Altera, and to bar Altera from importing or selling products into the United States that infringe the three Xilinx patents.  The patents cover important aspects of field programmable gate array technology. The Altera products covered by the three patents include all of the Flex, Apex and Acex families. An initial ruling on the issue of infringement is expected by the third calendar quarter of 2001.

“The ITC action is an expedited process in which to further protect our intellectual property,” said Wim Roelandts, Xilinx president and CEO. “If we do not aggressively protect our intellectual property, we cannot reap the benefits of the original risk taken by our shareholders when we invented the FPGA.”

About the Patents
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. The three patents in this case are #5,343,406; 5,432,719, and 5,861,761. The patents expire in 2011, 2012, and 2014, respectively.

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.