6/25/2004

Belkin and its Manufacturer Found Guilty of Patent Infringement; Jury Awards Kensington More Than $4 Million in Damages

ACCO Brands, Inc. today announced that it has prevailed in a lawsuit protecting technology patented by its Kensington division, maker of the market-leading MicroSaver computer security cable locks.

A jury in Marshall, Texas agreed with Kensington on every count that a competitor's products, Belkin Components' C100 and K100 laptop security locks, infringe on Kensington's patents. Belkin and its manufacturer, ABA Locks Manufacturer Co. Ltd., were found to be in "willful" violation of Kensington's intellectual property rights and were ordered to pay damages to Kensington amounting to more than $4.1 million. The jury also rejected Belkin's and ABA's claims that the Kensington patents were invalid. ACCO Brands and Kensington will now seek injunctive relief to prevent future sales of the infringing products.

This is Kensington's second major courtroom victory, in as many months, protecting its patented laptop security technology. In April, a U.S. District Court Judge ordered a competitor, Kryptonite Corporation, and a distributor, American Power Conversion Corp., to collectively pay Kensington more than $2.3 million in damages plus Kensington's legal costs. In that case, Kensington also won a permanent injunction prohibiting the defendants from making and selling the infringing products.

"As expected, judges and juries continue to recognize Kensington's technological leadership and are just as determined as we are to protect consumers from illegal imitations," said Janet Dulsky, Director of Product Management at Kensington Technology Group. "There is no substitute for the Kensington MicroSaver, and Kensington will continue to provide our customers and consumers with the most reliable computer security products on the market. At the same time, we will continue to protect Kensington's industry-leading innovation and intellectual property, wherever and whenever necessary."

Notes to editors

About Kensington

Kensington is a leading provider of desktop and mobile device accessories, trusted by IT, educators, business and home office professionals around the world for more than 35 years. Kensington products empower people to dynamically interact with content, creating a better working experience for productive performance. In both office and mobile environments, Kensington’s extensive portfolio of award-winning products provides trusted security, desktop productivity innovations, and ergonomic well-being. Our core competencies in engineering, industrial design, product quality and responsive customer support make Kensington The Professionals’ Choice^™.

Headquartered in San Mateo, California, Kensington operates as the technology division of ACCO Brands (NYSE: ACCO), one of the world’s largest designers, marketers and manufacturers of branded business, academic and consumer products, sold in more than 100 countries across the globe.

Kensington is the inventor and worldwide leader in laptop security locks, the acknowledged leader of Trackball innovation and offers a broad range of premium-branded desktop productivity solutions.