FASB Defendant in Suit Filed by Silicon Economics Alleging Antitrust Violations and Patent Misappropriation

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Feb 24, 2011, 08:00 ET

WILMINGTON, Del., Feb. 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Silicon Economics, Inc. (SEI), a California-based corporation, yesterday filed suit in federal district court in Wilmington, Delaware, against the Financial Accounting Foundation and the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), charging them with antitrust violations and willfully attempting to misappropriate patented technology belonging to SEI (Case No. 1:99-mc-09999 of United States District Court for Delaware). FASB is a private, non-governmental body based in Norwalk, CT, that sets financial accounting standards for public companies in the United States. A copy of the suit is available on the SEI website.

The lawsuit concerns Silicon Economics' EarningsPower Accounting™ (EPA™), a patented method developed by the company to improve the accuracy, validity, and usefulness of financial statements. Silicon Economics recommended the merits of EPA to FASB in response to FASB's request for public comment on the objectives of financial accounting (No. 1260-001, July 6, 2006). FASB then claimed that its website terms and conditions gave it ownership of Silicon Economics' technology, even though such terms were not part of FASB's invitation for public comment or otherwise disclosed to Silicon Economics.

"FASB's unlawful attempt to appropriate SEI's intellectual property undermines innovation and competition, and harms the US economy," said Perry J. Narancic of Narancic & Katzman, PC in Menlo Park, CA, legal counsel for Silicon Economics, Inc., "SEI will defend its intellectual property vigorously."

In defense of its ownership of EPA, SEI filed suit against the FASB last May in federal district court in San Jose, CA, but the court ruled that it lacked jurisdiction, forcing SEI to file in Delaware.

About Silicon Economics, Inc.

Silicon Economics, Inc. (Los Altos, CA), www.siliconeconomics.com, conducts fundamental research and development in finance and accounting, and develops and markets technologies that improve economic decision-making.

EarningsPower Accounting is a trademark of Silicon Economics, Inc. and is the subject of United States Patent 7,620,573.

SOURCE Silicon Economics, Inc.