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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
DATE OF REPORT (date of earliest event reported): October 25, 1996
Commission File Number: 033-302068
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AUTONOMOUS TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
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(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
FLORIDA 59-2554729
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(State or other Jurisdiction of (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)
incorporation or organization)
520 N. SEMORAN BLVD., SUITE 180, ORLANDO, FL 32807
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(Address of principal executive offices)
(407) 282-1262
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(Registrant's telephone number, including area code)
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Item 5. Other Events
The Company has filed certain legal actions against VISX, Inc. and Pillar Point
Partners asserting claims of non-infringement and unenforceability with regard
to patents held by the respective defendants in the field of excimer laser
shaping of the cornea. The Company's press release in the matter is attached as
Exhibit I.
Item 7. Financial Statements & Exhibits
Exhibits
EX99.1 Press Release issued October 25, 1996 by the Registrant
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
AUTONOMOUS TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
/s/Randy W. Frey
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Randy W. Frey, Chairman of the Board,
President and Chief Executive Officer
Dated: October 25, 1996
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EXHIBIT I
CONTACT:
ROSLYN PALMIERE
INVESTOR RELATIONS
AUTONOMOUS TECHNOLOGIES
(407) 282-1262
KEITH LIPPERT
LIPPERT HEILSHORN & ASSOCIATES, INC.
(212) 838-3777
AUTONOMOUS INITIATES LAWSUIT AGAINST PILLAR POINT PARTNERS AND VISX
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ORLANDO, FL, OCTOBER 25, 1996, AUTONOMOUS TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION (NASDAQ:
ATCI) ATCI announced today that it has filed legal actions seeking a
declaratory judgment of noninfringement, invalidity and unenforceability as to
certain patents owned or licensed by Pillar Point Partners in the United States,
and VISX in Canada. The United States action also alleges all patents
controlled by Pillar Point Partners are unenforceable.
These legal actions demonstrate that ATCI will aggressively assert and protect
its right to produce its T-PRK(R) System in the United States, and sell the
system worldwide, subject to all applicable regulatory requirements.
ATCI also announced that it plans to vigorously defend against any other
allegations of infringement asserted against its T-PRK(R) System. This includes
litigation initiated by VISX in the United Kingdom. Autonomous elected to
remove its T-PRK(R) System from a site in London, after VISX alleged
infringement. Despite requesting a European license from VISX to avoid the cost
of litigation, and removing the system before any patients were treated, VISX,
nevertheless, initiated legal action in London.
Mr. Randy W. Frey, founder and CEO of Autonomous comments: "I am confident that
Autonomous will prevail in all of these matters. Although the ideal world would
be free of litigation, ATCI entered this industry aware that some competitors
could resort to unfounded accusations in an attempt to prevent our superior
technology from reaching the marketplace. We have no alternative but to defend
ourselves and assert our position by initiating legal actions in the United
States and Canada." Mr. Frey continues "I am confident in our legal team and
our ability to prove the uniqueness of our T-PRK(R) System."
For clarification purposes, Mr. Frey also stated that ATCI does not infringe any
Lasersight patent despite allegations that were reported by the media, but never
made against ATCI directly. He stated that there are no pending legal actions
between Autonomous and Lasersight.
ATCI's T-PRK System is a new and unique combination of highly sophisticated eye
tracking with proprietary narrow beam excimer laser shaping technology. The
LADARVision(R) eye tracker is the only known eye tracker capable of tracking
human saccadic eye movements during excimer laser surgery. ATCI's clinical
data is providing evidence of the T-PRK(R) System's uniqueness.
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