EANS-Adhoc: austriamicrosystems AG / austriamicrosystems confirms validity of court decision in patent infringement lawsuit against Melexis, is confident to prevail in appeal of first-instance paten

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ad-hoc disclosure transmitted by euro adhoc with the aim of a Europe-wide
distribution. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this
announcement.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Patents, Copyright & Trademarks

17.12.2010

Unterpremstaetten, Austria (December 17, 2010) - austriamicrosystems
(SIX: AMS) today confirmed that the first-instance verdict in the
patent infringement lawsuit against Melexis N.V. / SA (Belgium) and
its German subsidiary Melexis GmbH before the District Court
(Landgericht) in Duesseldorf (Germany) regarding magnetic field
encoder products and European Patent EP 0 916 074 B1 remains valid.
At the same time, austriamicrosystems expects to ultimately prevail
against the first-instance decision by the Federal Patent Court
(Bundespatentgericht) in Munich (Germany) which deems the European
Patent EP 0 916 074 B1 covering magnetic field encoder products and
exclusively held by austriamicrosystems not patentable.

austriamicrosystems will appeal the court´s decision at the Federal
Supreme Court (Bundesgerichtshof) in Karlsruhe (Germany) after the
first-instance court´s decision has been issued in writing.
austriamicrosystems is confident to prevail in this next and final
instance and to have the patent fully validated by the court.

austriamicrosystems emphasizes that this recent development has no
impact on its current and future business. As the first-instance
decision by the Federal Patent Court remains legally non-binding
until the appeal has been decided, Melexis will, however, continue to
carry the risk of financial damages for patent infringement being
awarded to austriamicrosystems after positive decision of the appeal.

austriamicrosystems is the worldwide leader in high resolution ICs
with magnetic field sensors, offering a broad range of rotary and
linear encoders. Providing robust, contactless position measurement,
magnetic field encoders from austriamicrosystems are ideally suited
for virtually countless applications in industrial, automotive and
consumer electronics.

end of announcement euro adhoc
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ots Originaltext: austriamicrosystems AG
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Further inquiry note:

Moritz M. Gmeiner

Director Investor Relations

Tel: +43 3136 500-5970

Fax: +43 3136 500-5420

Email: investor@austriamicrosystems.com

Branche: Technology
ISIN: AT0000920863
WKN: 632638
Börsen: SIX Swiss Exchange / official dealing