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ZTE's Repeated Attempts to Overturn Preliminary Injunction and Invalidate Vringo's Patents Fail

NEW YORK - November 12, 2015- Vringo, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRNG), a company engaged in the innovation, development and monetization of intellectual property as well as the commercialization and distribution of wire-free charging and rugged computing devices, today announced that it has received favorable rulings in litigation against ZTE in Romania and China.

In Romania, on November 11, 2015, the Bucharest First District Court rejected ZTE Romania's challenge to the enforcement of the preliminary injunction that has been in place against ZTE Romania since June 30, 2014.  ZTE Romania has previously lost all rights to appeal the preliminary injunction itself.  This marks the thirteenth time that a Romanian court has stricken down a challenge by ZTE Romania to the preliminary injunction or to the enforcement thereof.

In China, the Patent Re-Examination Board ("PRB") of the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China has upheld the validity of two of Vringo's Chinese patents, each for the second time.

On May 30, 2014, ZTE filed a first petition for the re-examination of Vringo's Chinese Patent ZL97192088.5, which pertains to SMS technology. On December 31, 2014, following an oral hearing, the PRB upheld the validity of all claims of the patent.  On May 11, 2015, ZTE filed a second petition for the re-examination of the same patent.  On November 6, 2015, the PRB-once again-maintained the validity of the patent. 

On May 30, 2014, ZTE also filed a first petition for the re-examination of Vringo's Chinese Patent ZL96190165.9, which has been declared to the European Telecommunications Standards Institute as a standard-essential patent. On February 9, 2015, following an oral hearing, the PRB upheld the validity of all claims of the patent. On July 2, 2015, ZTE filed a second petition for the re-examination of the same patent. On November 10, 2015, the PRB-once again-maintained the validity of the patent.

ZTE has sought to invalidate almost all of Vringo's Chinese patents, filing petitions for the re-examination of 33 of Vringo's Chinese patents. The PRB has upheld the validity of 17 of those patents in full, and of 2 in part. This is not ZTE's first attempt to invalidate one of Vringo's Chinese patents more than once. ZTE has filed second petitions for the re-examination of 9 of Vringo's Chinese patents.  Of the 6 of those petitions which have reached a dispositive decision, all 6 were maintained valid by the PRB. In addition, in two cases, ZTE withdrew a petition for re-examination of one of Vringo's Chinese patents only to re-file it citing substantially the same prior art.

Neither of the two Chinese patents, nor any of their counterparts around the world, have been asserted against ZTE.

"For many of Vringo's Chinese patents, ZTE has attempted to find a review panel that will provide ZTE with more favorable results," said David Cohen, Vringo's Chief Legal and Intellectual Property Officer. "ZTE's repeated attempts to invalidate patents which the Chinese PRB has already found valid is yet another example of ZTE's gamesmanship. ZTE would rather litigate than engage in negotiations to license Vringo's standard essential patent portfolio on FRAND terms," Mr. Cohen continued.

ZTE has engaged in similar tactics around the world.

In Brazil and Romania, ZTE has consistently filed and re-filed appeals against preliminary injunctions in those jurisdictions.

In Brazil, in rejecting ZTE's latest appeal-its eleventh-to the preliminary injunction in place against it, the Rio de Janeiro State Court of Appeals, in its opinion issued on October 21, 2015, held that while "ZTE used its constitutional right to access the courts to file a specific lawsuit.such behavior constitutes a bad-faith dispute and ZTE has already been warned of such conduct."

In Romania, ZTE Romania has exhausted thirteen challenges to the preliminary injunction or to the enforcement thereof in place against it. In one of ZTE Romania's latest challenges, the Bucharest Court of Appeal held that ZTE Romania's motion asking the Court to set aside the preliminary injunction in light of the European Court of Justice Huawei v. ZTE decision, outlining the factors to consider in determining whether the holder of a standard-essential patent abuses its dominant position in seeking injunctive relief against an alleged infringer, was ungrounded, and dismissed it with no further chance of appeal.

In India, the High Court of Delhi at New Delhi is expected to rule before the end of 2015 on Vringo's motion to hold ZTE in contempt of Court for ZTE's alleged failure to produce a complete accounting of all potentially infringing devices as ordered by the Court.

In the United States, Vringo's motion for sanctions, including case-ending sanctions, against ZTE for ZTE's conduct in the litigation between the parties pending before the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York remains pending.

  About Vringo, Inc.
       
Vringo, Inc. is engaged in the innovation, development and monetization of intellectual property as well as the commercialization and distribution of wire-free charging and rugged computing devices.  Vringo's intellectual property portfolio consists of over 600 patents and patent applications covering telecom infrastructure, internet search, ad-insertion, mobile and wire-free charging technologies.  Vringo's subsidiary fliCharge is dedicated to the licensing and commercialization of wire-free charging technologies. Vringo's subsidiary Group Mobile is dedicated to the marketing and sale of rugged computing devices. For more information, visit: www.vringo.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements, which may be identified by words such as "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "estimates," "projects," "intends," "should," "seeks," "future," "continue," or the negative of such terms, or other comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts.  Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained herein.  Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, but are not limited to: our inability to license and monetize our patents, including the outcome of the litigation against ZTE and other companies; our inability to recognize the anticipated benefits of the acquisition of IDG, which may be affected by, among other things, competition, our ability to secure advantageous licensing and sales agreements, market acceptance of IDG's technology, potential technology obsolescence, protection of intellectual property rights and potential liability risks that are inherent in the marketing and sale of products used by consumers; our inability to monetize and recoup our investment with respect to patent assets that we acquire; our inability to develop and introduce new products and/or develop new intellectual property; our inability to protect our intellectual property rights; new legislation, regulations or court rulings related to enforcing patents, that could harm our business and operating results; unexpected trends in the mobile phone and telecom infrastructure industries; our inability to raise additional capital to fund our combined operations and business plan; our inability to maintain the listing of our securities on a major securities exchange; the potential lack of market acceptance of our products; potential competition from other providers and products; our inability to retain key members of our management team; the future success of Infomedia and our ability to receive value from its stock; our ability to continue as a going concern; our liquidity and other risks and uncertainties and other factors discussed from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including our annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 16, 2015.  Vringo expressly disclaims any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements contained herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
Contacts:

Investors and Media:
Cliff Weinstein
Executive Vice President
Vringo, Inc.
646-532-6777
cweinstein@vringoinc.com

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