Toshiba Seeks Court Remedies for Infringement of Essential DVD Patent in Italy

TOKYO--(Business Wire)--Toshiba Corporation announced today that the Company filed a
lawsuit in Italy against an Italian disc replicator of DVD discs on
December 27, 2007. The suit was brought to the District Court of Milan
- Specialised IP Chamber against ACME S.p.A. (ACME), as a means to
halt infringement a Toshiba's DVD patent. Toshiba seeks injunctive
relief and declaration that ACME is liable for damages resulting from
its infringement of Toshiba's DVD patent.

Toshiba licenses patents essential for meeting DVD format
specifications.(1) ACME has not entered into license agreements with
Toshiba or the DVD6C Licensing Group(2), and has engaged in the
manufacture and sales of DVD video discs in Italy without permission.
Toshiba contends that ACME's infringement of Toshiba's patent has
damaged Toshiba's DVD-related business, and also caused damage to the
legitimate and licensed DVD product manufacturing and distribution
business as a whole. In filing the lawsuit, Toshiba prepares to
recover monetary damages, and to secure an agreement from ACME to
respect Toshiba's intellectual property rights in future.

Toshiba has previously filed lawsuits in the US against
infringement of its DVD patents, against an American importer and
wholesaler of DVD-related products in 2005 and against 17
manufacturers and importers of DVD-related products in April 2007. The
company also brought a lawsuit in Germany in July 2007, against a
German DVD disc replicator. Toshiba will continue to take appropriate
action against infringements of its DVD technology patents to promote
development of a healthy DVD industry.

(1) DVD format specifications are standards adopted by the DVD
Forum.

(2) The DVD6C Licensing Group (DVD6C) is an industry body
representing nine leading developers of DVD technology and formats
that licenses essential DVD patents. For further information on the
DVD6C Licensing Group, please see http://www.dvd6cla.com/.

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Lawsuit against infringement of Toshiba's DVD patent
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1. Date of filing: December 27, 2007
2. Filed with: the District Court of Milan - Specialised IP Chamber
3. Plaintiff: Toshiba Corporation
4. Filed against: ACME S.p.A.
5. Products: DVD video discs
6. Scope of Complaint: Seeks monetary damages and an injunction
prohibiting production of the named products in Italy by the
defendant.
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Toshiba Corporation
Corporate Communications Office
Junko Furuta, +81-3-3457-2105
Fax: +81-3-5444-9202
http://www.toshiba.co.jp/contact/media.htm

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