PPT VISION, Inc. Successfully Resolves Patent Lawsuit

PPT VISION, Inc. Successfully Resolves Patent Lawsuit

MINNEAPOLIS, June 16/PRNewswire/ -- PPT VISION, Inc. (Nasdaq: PPTV) announced today that it has entered into a settlement agreement with National Instruments Corporation (NIC) ending the lawsuit alleging patent infringement brought by NIC against PPT.  Under the terms of the settlement, PPT has agreed to make a one-time payment of $1,000,000 to NIC and make a minor modification to its Vision Program Manager™ (VPM) software, and NIC has agreed to dismiss the case with prejudice.

"Despite our strong belief that our VPM software does not infringe the patents which were at issue in this case, we agreed to settle the case in an effort to avoid the costs and risks of a jury trial in Texas," commented Joseph C. Christenson, President of PPT VISION, Inc.  "We retained our right to continue to sell and innovate our VPM software in support of our large and growing customer base.  We are pleased that this case is now behind us so that we can continue to focus our energy on innovating our machine vision product offerings for our customers," concluded Mr. Christenson.

PPT VISION, Inc. designs, manufactures, markets, and integrates machine vision-based automated inspection systems for manufacturing applications such as electronic and mechanical assembly verification, verification of printed characters, packaging integrity, surface flaw detection, and gauging and measurement tasks.  Machine vision-based inspection systems enable manufacturers to realize significant economic paybacks by increasing the quality of manufactured parts and improving the productivity of manufacturing processes.  The Company's vision systems are sold throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia to a broad range of industry categories including manufacturers of automotive, electronic and semiconductor components, consumer goods, pharmaceuticals and plastics.  The Company's Common Stock trades on the Nasdaq National Market tier of The Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol PPTV. For more information, please see the PPT VISION, Inc. web site at http://www.pptvision.com

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The discussion above contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements by their nature involve substantial risks and uncertainties as described by PPT VISION's periodic filings.  Actual results may differ materially depending on a variety of factors, including, but not limited to the following: changes in worldwide general economic conditions, cyclicality of capital spending by customers, PPT VISION's ability to keep pace with technological developments and evolving industry standards, worldwide competition, and PPT VISION's ability to protect its existing intellectual property from challenges from third parties and other factors.  Additional information with respect to the risks and uncertainties faced by PPT  VISION may be found in the section "Business" under the caption "Important  Factors Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" contained in its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Form 10-K for the year ended October 31, 1999 and its Forms 10-Q for the quarters ending January 31, 2000 and April 30, 2000.