Viisage and Fargo Settle All Pending Litigation and Enter into Strategic Distribution Agreement
23 May 2005
Viisage (Nasdaq: VISGE - News), a leading provider of advanced technology identity solutions, today announced Toppan Printing Co., Ltd. and Viisage have agreed to a settlement of the lawsuit Fargo Electronics, Inc. filed against Toppan and Trans Digital Technologies Corporation (TDT) in July 2004. Additionally, Viisage and Fargo have entered into a strategic distribution agreement that allows Viisage to purchase the full line of Fargo printers, become Fargo's exclusive distributor of the Toppan CP400 card printer to the US federal government and US state drivers' license markets, and distribute the Toppan CP400 printer worldwide outside Japan. As part of this arrangement, Viisage has committed to purchase products from Fargo over the next two years and will pay to Fargo a commission on future sales of the Toppan CP400 printer and consumables for the Department of Defense Common Access Card program.
The Fargo lawsuit alleged that a reverse image printer manufactured by Toppan and distributed by TDT, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Viisage, infringed four US patents owned by Fargo. The agreement requires Toppan to pay a settlement amount to Fargo and grants Fargo distribution rights worldwide outside Japan for the Toppan CP400 printer.
"The settlement of the lawsuit and establishment of our distribution agreement with Fargo represents a win for both companies. Fargo's products will add strength and breadth to our identity solutions portfolio which in turn allows us to provide the most advanced solutions to our customers," said Bernard Bailey, president and CEO of Viisage. "Furthermore, this agreement opens new sales channels for both companies to use for the distribution of our products and services."
"We are pleased with the opportunities that will come with this alliance and resolution of our lawsuit," said Gary Holland, Fargo's CEO. "Fargo now has another technology partner in Toppan, and the agreement with Viisage increases our distribution opportunities."
About Viisage
Viisage (NASDAQ: VISGE - News) delivers advanced technology identity solutions for governments, law enforcement agencies and businesses concerned with enhancing security, reducing identity theft, and protecting personal privacy. Viisage solutions include secure credentials such as passports and drivers' licenses, biometric technologies for uniquely linking individuals to those credentials, and credential authentication technologies to ensure the documents are valid before individuals are allowed to cross borders, gain access to finances, or granted other privileges. With over 3,000 installations worldwide, Viisage's identity solutions stand out as a result of the Company's industry-leading technology and unique understanding of customer needs. Viisage's product suite includes FaceTOOLS® SDK, Viisage PROOF(TM), FaceEXPLORER®, iA-thenticate®, BorderGuard®, FacePASS(TM) and FaceFINDER®.
This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements in this document and those made from time to time by Viisage through its senior management are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements reflect the Company's current views with respect to the future events or financial performance discussed in this release, based on management's beliefs and assumptions and information currently available. When used, the words "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "project", "should", "expect", "plan", "assume" and similar expressions that do not relate solely to historical matters identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements concerning future plans or results are necessarily only estimates and actual results could differ materially from expectations. Certain factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, among other things, the size and timing of contract awards, performance on contracts, availability and cost of key components, unanticipated results from audits of the financial results of the Company and acquired companies, changing interpretations of generally accepted accounting principles, outcomes of government reviews, potential fluctuations in quarterly results, dependence on large contracts and a limited number of customers, lengthy sales and implementation cycles, market acceptance of new or enhanced products and services, proprietary technology and changing competitive conditions, system performance, management of growth, dependence on key personnel, ability to obtain project financing, general economic and political conditions and other factors affecting spending by customers, the unpredictable nature of working with government agencies and other risks, uncertainties and factors including those described from time to time in Viisage's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including without limitation, Viisage's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2003 and its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. Viisage expressly disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements.
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Contact:
Viisage
Maureen Todaro, 978-932-2438
mtodaro@viisage.com
or
PAN Communications
Tara Murray, 978-474-1900
viisage@pancomm.com
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Source: Viisage
Source: Business Wire
All trademarks and copyrighted information contained herein are the property of their respective owners.
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