CSIRO Granted Change of Venue in Closely-Watched Patent Infringement Dispute

In another court victory for Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation ("CSIRO"), a federal court in San Francisco has agreed to transfer the patent infringement action filed against CSIRO by Intel, Dell, Microsoft, Hewlett- Packard and Netgear in California to the Eastern District of Texas.

Background:

In February, 2005, CSIRO filed suit against Buffalo Technology, a Japanese manufacturer, and Buffalo USA, its Austin, Texas-based subsidiary. The action alleged that Buffalo's 802.11a and 802.11g wireless devices infringe claims of United States Patent 5,487,069 ("the '069 patent"). The patent issued in September, 1996 and claims priority to an Australian filing in November, 1992.

Recognizing that a victory by CSIRO in the Buffalo case could have broad implications for the wireless industry as a whole, Intel, Dell, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard and Netgear sued CSIRO in May, 2005 in Federal District Court in San Francisco seeking a declaratory judgment that the '069 patent was invalid and not infringed.

On November 14, 2006, before a decision was reached in the California case, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas (Tyler Division) found CSIRO's patents to be valid and infringed by Buffalo.

Northern District Decision:

In its ruling, the California court agreed with CSIRO that the Eastern District of Texas is the proper venue to decide on the declaratory judgment case because the Texas court is already familiar with the case and has ruled on the key issues.

"We are gratified by the Northern District's decision in this case and hope that it will set the groundwork for a final ruling in favor of our client," remarked Townsend and Townsend and Crew LLP partner Daniel Furniss. "The Eastern District has already recognized the validity of CSIRO's patents and we are confident that we can effectively argue the applicability of those patents to Intel, Dell, Microsoft and others."

According to CSIRO, the Texas court's ruling in the Buffalo case will apply to all 802.11a and g wireless devices. The amount of patent damages in the Buffalo case, based on a "reasonable royalty," will likely be decided early next year.

Additional Background Regarding the Technology at Issue:

The 802.11a and g standards were adopted by the IEEE in 1999 and 2003. Virtually all laptop computers include 802.11g capability and Buffalo, Netgear and many others have sold 802.11a and g products to the consumer market. CSIRO estimates U.S. sales of 802.11g devices at more than 200 million units over the last three years and says the market is growing.

Intel is a major supplier of 802.11a and g chipsets providing essentially all of the chips incorporated into laptop computers. Dell and Hewlett-Packard are major sellers of laptops while Netgear supplies wireless access points and network cards for consumer use. Microsoft offers wireless capability for its X-Box video games. Additionally, Microsoft's new Zune MP3 player features 802.11g wireless capability, which Microsoft touts as a major differentiator between the Zune and Apple's extremely successful iPod.

The decisions referenced in this press release are available at http://www.townsend.com or by opening the following links:

Intel Corporation; Dell, Inc. v. Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organisation, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, Case No. C05-01886 and Microsoft Corporation et al., v. Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organisation, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, Case No. C05-01894. Order granting motions for change of venue.

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation v. Buffalo Technology (USA) Inc. et al., U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division, Case No. 6:06-CV-324.

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