SAN RAFAEL, Calif., Oct. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Autodesk, Inc. (Nasdaq: ADSK), the leading design software and digital content company, today announced that it has filed a lawsuit seeking legal compliance from the developer of LT-Extender, a German company, that is violating copyright protected intellectual property and other rights. Evidence indicates that LT-Extender is unlawfully manipulating Autodesk's AutoCAD LT(R) software and inciting the unauthorized copying of AutoCAD files to offer extended functionality that is unsupported by Autodesk, putting Autodesk customers at risk. Autodesk is aggressively pursuing the maker of LT-Extender, and investigating similar reported unlawful and unauthorized practices by other companies, to protect and safeguard:

    (Logo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000518/SFTH083LOGO )

    -- customers from risks with unauthorized and unsupported use of AutoCAD
       LT by third-party developers;
    -- Autodesk's legitimate 2,800 third-party developers;
    -- intellectual property rights;
    -- the competitive advantage of customers using Autodesk software; and
    -- the reputation of Autodesk's high quality products.

"Protecting our customers is our primary concern. We cannot support the technology offered by violating companies so our customers are vulnerable to receiving products that are not supported by Autodesk and may not operate properly with the applications of Autodesk's legitimate 2,800 third-party developers," said Sandy Boulton, director of the Piracy Prevention Department at Autodesk. "Companies like LT-Extender are stealing from our creative team of product engineers and putting our customers and their valuable design work at risk."

Unlike AutoCAD, AutoCAD LT was not intended as an application development platform, but as a pure 2D alternative to the full 2D and 3D features and functions of AutoCAD software.

Users who require features and functions beyond those provided by AutoCAD LT are urged to consider AutoCAD products or one of the industry-specific Autodesk programs, either stand-alone or together with one or more third-party applications.

Today's action is part of Autodesk's Piracy Prevention Program whose charter is to educate customers and the general public about software piracy and its damaging effects on the economy and product innovation, while aggressively seeking legal recourse against copyright infringers. For more information on Autodesk's Piracy Prevention Program, to report suspected piracy, or to confirm that you are not violating your software license agreements, call Autodesk's Piracy Prevention Hotline at 1-800-NO COPIES or visit www.autodesk.com/piracy

About Autodesk

Autodesk is the world's leading design software and digital content company, offering customers progressive business solutions through powerful technology products and services. Autodesk helps customers in the building, manufacturing, infrastructure, digital media, and wireless data services fields increase the value of their digital design data and improve efficiencies across their entire project lifecycle management processes. For more information about the company, see www.autodesk.com.

NOTE: Autodesk, AutoCAD, and AutoCAD LT are registered trademarks of Autodesk, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders.

CONTACT: Shannon Hart of Autodesk, Inc., +1-415-507-6241, or shannon.hart@autodesk.com.

SOURCE  Autodesk, Inc.
    -0-                             10/17/2003
    /CONTACT:  Shannon Hart of Autodesk, Inc., +1-415-507-6241, or
shannon.hart@autodesk.com/
    /Photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000518/SFTH083LOGO
             AP Archive:  http://photoarchive.ap.org
             PRN Photo Desk, +1-888-776-6555 or +1-212-782-2840/
    /Web site:  http://www.autodesk.com /
    (ADSK)

CO:  Autodesk, Inc.; LT-Extender
ST:  California, Germany
IN:  CPR STW
SU:  LAW



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