Exhibit 99.1
Contact: Sheryl Battles
Exec. Director, External Affairs
Pitney Bowes Inc.
203/251-6974
sheryl.battles@pb.com
Charles McBride
Exec. Director, Investor Relations
Pitney Bowes, Inc.
203/351-6349
charles.mcbride@pb.com
Dave Berman
Corporate Public Relations Mgr.
Hewlett-Packard Company
650/857-7277
dave_berman@hp.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PITNEY BOWES AND HEWLETT-PACKARD SETTLE LITIGATION,
ANNOUNCE BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY AGREEMENTS
STAMFORD, Conn., June 4, 2001 - Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE: PBI) and
Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HWP) announced agreements which settle litigation
between the companies and provide ongoing business and technology opportunities
for both firms.
Under the terms of the agreements, the companies resolved all pending
patent litigation without admission of infringement, and HP will pay Pitney
Bowes $400 million in cash. A 1995 lawsuit brought by Pitney Bowes involving
print technology patents was scheduled to go to trial today in the U.S. District
Court for the District of Connecticut, and suits by HP were pending.
Additionally, the companies entered into a technology licensing agreement and
expect to pursue business and commercial relationships. No further details of
the agreements will be made available.
"Pitney Bowes has a long history of licensing its technology, as part
of its strategic deployment of its intellectual property assets, and currently
has license agreements with companies in a variety of industries, including
printing, word processing, shipping and mailing. The resolution of these issues
allows us to extend our working relationship with HP and enables the continued
expansion and development of future products and services that benefit our
respective customers," said Murray D. Martin, Executive Vice President and Group
President, Global Mailing Systems, Pitney Bowes. "We are pleased that we were
able to reach agreement with HP before trial and believe the settlement is good
for both parties."
"These agreements allow both companies to avoid the continuing costs,
time, uncertainty and distractions of lengthy legal battles, engage in mutually
beneficial
business opportunities and focus on meeting the needs of our customers," said
Ann Baskins, HP Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary.
HP will revise its previously released statement of earnings for its
second fiscal quarter ended April 30, 2001 by recording the $400 million
settlement as a pre-tax charge for such quarter. HP will file its unaudited
consolidated financial statements for such quarter in a Quarterly Report on Form
10-Q by June 14, 2001.
ABOUT HP
Hewlett-Packard Company - a leading global provider of computing and
imaging solutions and services - is focused on making technology and its
benefits accessible to individuals and businesses through simple appliances,
useful e-services and solutions for an Internet infrastructure that's always on.
HP had total revenue from continuing operations of $48.8 billion in its 2000
fiscal year. Information about HP and its products can be found at www.hp.com
ABOUT PITNEY BOWES
Pitney Bowes is a $4 billion global provider of integrated mail,
messaging and document management solutions, headquartered in Stamford,
Connecticut. The company serves over 2 million businesses of all sizes through
dealer and direct operations. For additional information about the company, its
products and solutions, visit www.pitneybowes.com.
# # # #
This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and
uncertainties, as well as assumptions that, if they never materialize or prove
incorrect, could cause the results of HP and its consolidated subsidiaries to
differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking
statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact are
statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including any
projections of earnings, revenues, or other financial items; any statements of
the plans, strategies, and objectives of management for future operations; any
statements concerning proposed new products, services, or developments; any
statements regarding future economic conditions or performance; statements of
belief and any statement of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. The
risks, uncertainties and assumptions referred to above include the ability of HP
to retain and motivate key employees; the timely development, production and
acceptance of products and services and their feature sets; the challenge of
managing asset levels, including inventory; the flow of products into
third-party distribution channels; the difficulty of keeping expense growth at
modest levels while increasing revenues; and other risks that are described from
time to time in HP's Securities and Exchange Commission reports, including but
not limited to the annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended Oct. 31,2000,
and subsequently filed reports. If any of these risks or uncertainties
materializes or any of these assumptions proves incorrect, HP's results could
differ materially from HP's expectations in these statements. HP does not intend
to update these forward-looking statements.
The statements contained in this news release that are not purely historical are
forward-looking statements with the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act
of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Act of 1934. These statements may be
identified by their use of forward-looking terminology such as "expects,"
"anticipates," "intends," and other similar words. Such forward-looking
statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those projected. These risks and uncertainties include,
but are not limited to: severe adverse changes in the economic environment;
timely development and acceptance of new products or gaining product approval;
successful entry into new markets; changes in interest rates; and changes in
postal regulations, as more fully outlined in Pitney
Bowes' 2000 Form 10-K Annual Report filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are
made as of the date hereof and Pitney Bowes does not assume any obligation to
update the reasons why actual results could differ materially from those
projected in the forward-looking statements.
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