North Kingstown, Rhode Island, January 6, 2006 - ROMER, a Hexagon Metrology company, has received notice from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that the validity of its U.S. Patent No. 5,829,148 (“the ‘148 patent”) has been confirmed on all claims. On September 9, 2004, the Patent Office agreed to conduct a re-examination of the patent at the request of FARO Technologies, Inc., Lake Mary, FL (NASDAQ: FARO). The ‘148 patent is the subject of an ongoing patent infringement lawsuit in federal court in San Diego, CA ( Corp., et al. v. Faro Technologies, Inc., Civil Action No. 03-CV-2355 B(WMc)), scheduled for trial on January 31, 2006.

“This recent decision from the U.S. Patent Office strengthens our conviction that the ‘148 patent is valid, and this lawsuit is an entirely legitimate response to FARO’s ongoing infringement of our patented technology,” stated Bill Gruber, President and CEO of Hexagon Metrology (North America). “In the opinion of the Patent Office, FARO’s arguments for patent invalidity were inadequate to invalidate any of the claims of the ‘148 patent. These are the same arguments for invalidity that FARO has presented to the U.S. District Court.”

A second request for re-examination of the ‘148 patent was also filed by FARO on September 15, 2005, and was recently accepted by the U.S. Patent Office. “FARO’s second request for re-examination is very similar to the first one, which was not successful,” continued Gruber. “The Patent Office’s decision has further strengthened our case, and FARO’s continued delaying tactics will not deter us from seeking a final vindication at trial. We remain confident that ROMER will obtain a permanent injunction and recover substantial damages as a result of FARO's infringement of our patented technology.” The two companies are the largest manufacturers of "portable arm" measurement devices, which are used by engineers to design and inspect a variety of manufactured products. These portable CMM products represent both companies' primary line of business. FARO has been making and selling the accused products for several years.

ROMER  designs and manufactures portable coordinate measurement machines. The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Measurement group of Sweden's Hexagon AB (Stockholmsborsen: HEXA A), the world's largest provider of precision dimensional measurement hardware and software. http://www.hexagon.se/