By
Sharon Baider
May 18, 2008
NICE Systems Ltd. (Nasdaq: NICE; TASE: NICE) has lost a patent infringement case in the Federal District Court for Northern Georgia in Atlanta and was ordered to pay $3.3 million in damages. The case was filed by Verint Systems Inc. (Pink Sheets: VRNT) unit Verint Americas, Inc. (formerly Witness Systems Inc.) in January 2006.
The jury ruiled that certain features of NICE's analytics products infringe two claims of Witness' US patent 6404857. Verint and NICE both provide audio- video surveillance and analytics equipment for civilian and security customers.
NICE intends to ask the court to overturn the verdict based on legal arguments, and, if necessary, to appeal the decision. The company believes the jury's decision does not have a material adverse impact on its business.
Verint is a subsidiary of Comverse Technology Inc. (Pink Sheets: CMVT). Verint and NICE competed to acquire Witness Systems, which was ultimately acquired by Verint for $950 million in May 2007.
Migdal Capital Markets analyst Nir Amikam reiterated his "Outperform" recommendation for NICE with a target price of $45, reflecting a 35% premium on Friday's closing price on Nasdaq of $33.07.
NICE raised its full-year revenue guidance for 2008 to $619-634 million from $615-630 million. The analysts' consensus is $624.9 million.