NEW YORK - June 18, 2014 - Vringo, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRNG), a company engaged in the innovation, development and monetization of intellectual property and mobile technologies, today announced that the Court of Justice of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil has upheld the ex-parte preliminary injunction granted against ZTE Corporation and ZTE do Brasil (collectively, "ZTE"), having rejected ZTE's interlocutory appeal of the injunction.

Vringo Infrastructure, Inc., Vringo's wholly-owned subsidiary, filed suit against ZTE on April 14, 2014 in the 5th Trial Court of Rio de Janeiro State Court, alleging infringement of Brazilian patent PI0013975-0, which is related to 3G/4G/LTE infrastructure. On April 15, 2014, the Court granted an ex-parte preliminary injunction against ZTE, restraining ZTE from manufacturing, using, offering for sale, selling, installing, testing, or importing such infrastructure equipment. Vringo posted a bond of approximately $900,000 with the Court in order to enforce the injunction on April 17, 2014. ZTE filed an interlocutory appeal against the injunction on May 9, 2014. On May 26, 2014, the Court denied ZTE's request for a stay of the injunction pending the interlocutory appeal hearing, which took place on June 11, 2014. Judgment was rendered at the conclusion of the hearing, and formally published thereafter.

Following the ruling, the injunction is likely to remain in place until a decision on the merits has been reached. A trial schedule has not yet been set; the average length of time in Brazil from the filing of a claim on the merits until final judgment is two to four years.

Background

On October 5, 2012, Vringo Infrastructure, filed a suit in the UK High Court of Justice, Chancery Division, Patents Court, alleging infringement of certain European patents. Subsequently, ZTE responded to the complaint on December 19, 2012 with a counterclaim for invalidity of the patents in suit. Vringo Infrastructure filed a further UK suit on December 3, 2012, alleging infringement of additional European patents. The first UK suit is scheduled for trial in October 2014 and the second UK suit is scheduled for trial in June 2015.

On November 15, 2012, Vringo Germany filed a suit in the Mannheim Regional Court in Germany, alleging infringement of a European patent. The litigation was expanded to include a second European patent on February 21, 2013. On November 4, 2013, Vringo filed a further brief with respect to the proceedings of the first European patent suit, asserting infringement by ZTE eNode B infrastructure equipment used in 4G networks.

On December 17, 2013, the Court issued its judgment, finding that ZTE infringed on the second European patent and ordered an accounting and an injunction upon payment of the appropriate bonds. On February 19, 2014, Vringo Germany filed suit in the Mannheim Regional Court seeking enforcement of the accounting ordered and a further order that non-compliance be subject to civil and criminal penalties. Trial in this suit is scheduled for September 2014. 

On December 27, 2013, ZTE filed a notice of appeal of the Mannheim Regional Court's judgment, and on January 24, 2014, ZTE filed an emergency motion with the Court of Appeals seeking a stay of the judge's order pending appeal. On February 24, 2014, ZTE's motion was denied. 

On September 13, 2013 and January 28, 2014, Vringo Germany filed two suits in the Regional Court of Düsseldorf, alleging infringement of two additional European patents. Both cases are scheduled to be heard in November 2014.   

On April 2, 2013, Vringo Infrastructure filed a patent infringement lawsuit in France in the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris, alleging infringement of the French part of two European patents. Vringo Infrastructure filed the lawsuit based on particular information uncovered during a seizure to obtain evidence of infringement, known as a saisie-contrefaçon, which was executed at two of ZTE's facilities in France. The oral hearing in relation to these patents is scheduled for December 2014 before the 3rd division of the 3rd chamber of the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris (specializing in intellectual property matters). 

On June 11, 2013, Vringo Infrastructure filed a patent infringement lawsuit in the Federal Court of Australia in the New South Wales registry, alleging infringement by ZTE of two Australian patents. Vringo currently anticipates that the Court will set a trial date in the second half of 2014.

On September 6, 2013, Vringo Infrastructure filed a preliminary inquiry order against ZTE in the Commercial Court of Madrid, Spain, requiring ZTE to provide discovery relating to alleged infringement of a patent which is the Spanish counter-part of the second European patent filed in Germany.  In light of ZTE's non-responsiveness to the order, on March 24, 2014, the Court granted Vringo's request to seek discovery of certain of ZTE's Spanish customers.

On November 7, 2013, Vringo filed a patent infringement lawsuit in the High Court of Delhi at New Delhi, India, alleging infringement of an Indian patent related to CDMA. On November 8, 2013, the Court granted an ex-parte preliminary injunction and appointed commissioners to inspect ZTE's facilities and collect evidence. ZTE appealed the preliminary injunction and, on December 12, 2013, the appellate panel instituted an interim arrangement, requiring ZTE to file an accounting affidavit disclosing the number of CDMA devices sold by its entities in India, revenue derived therefrom, and other supporting documentation. The Court also required ZTE to pay a bond of 50 million rupees (approximately $800,000), directed Indian customs authorities to notify Vringo when all relevant ZTE goods are imported into India, and required ZTE to give Vringo the opportunity to inspect those goods. ZTE filed its accounting affidavit on January 13, 2014.

On February 3, 2014, Vringo filed a motion for contempt for ZTE's failure to comply with the Court's order, and requested that the Court order ZTE to pay an increased bond. Hearing on this motion is scheduled for July 8, 2014.

On January 31, 2014, Vringo filed a patent infringement lawsuit in the High Court of Delhi at New Delhi, alleging infringement of a second Indian patent related to GSM Infrastructure. The Court, finding a prima facie case of infringement, granted an ex-parte preliminary injunction, restraining ZTE and its officers, directors, agents, distributors and customers from importing, selling, offering for sale, advertising, installing, or operating any infringing products, and giving Vringo the right to inspect any infringing goods arriving in India, which are to be detained by customs authorities. The judge granted the injunction after ruling that Vringo would suffer an irreparable loss if such an injunction were not put into place. ZTE subsequently appealed the injunction, which remains in place pending a ruling by the Court, which is expected on July 8, 2014.

On May 28, 2014, Vringo filed a patent infringement lawsuit in the District Court of The Hague in the Netherlands, alleging infringement of a European patent.

About Vringo, Inc.

Vringo, Inc. is engaged in the development and monetization of intellectual property worldwide. The Company's intellectual property portfolio consists of over 600 patents and patent applications covering telecom infrastructure, internet search and mobile technologies. The Company's patents and patent applications have been developed internally and acquired from third parties.  For more information, visit: www.vringo.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements, which may be identified by words such as "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "estimates," "projects," "intends," "should," "seeks," "future," "continue," or the negative of such terms, or other comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts.  Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained herein.  Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, but are not limited to: our inability to license and monetize our patents, including the outcome of the litigation against online search firms and other companies; our inability to monetize and recoup our investment with respect to patent assets that we acquire; our inability to develop and introduce new products and/or develop new intellectual property; new legislation, regulations or court rulings related to enforcing patents, that could harm our business and operating results; unexpected trends in the mobile phone and telecom infrastructure industries; our inability to raise additional capital to fund our combined operations and business plan; our inability to maintain the listing of our securities on a major securities exchange; the potential lack of market acceptance of our products; potential competition from other providers and products; our inability to retain key members of our management team; the future success of Infomedia and our ability to receive value from its stock; and other risks and uncertainties and other factors discussed from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including our annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 10, 2014.  Vringo expressly disclaims any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements contained herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

Contacts

Investors and Media:
Cliff Weinstein
Executive Vice President
Vringo, Inc.
646-532-6777
cweinstein@vringoinc.com





This announcement is distributed by NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions on behalf of NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions clients.
The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.
Source: Vringo, Inc. via Globenewswire

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