In Response to SMART Modular Technologies' Request for Reexamination, Patent Office Rejects All Claims of Second Netlist Patent

NEWARK, CA--(Marketwire - Oct 16, 2012) - SMART Modular Technologies, Inc. ("SMART" or the "Company"), a leading independent manufacturer of memory modules and embedded flash products, today announced that in a reexamination brought by SMART, the United States Patent & Trademark Office ("USPTO") has issued an Action Closing Prosecution that rejects all claims in Netlist, Inc.'s U.S. Patent No. 7,289,386.

Netlist's '386 patent describes technology associated with high density registered DIMMs and is related to its U.S. Patent No. 7,619,912 for which the Patent Office previously rejected most of Netlist's 51 claims in another reexamination brought by SMART. Netlist has referred to the technology of the '912 patent as enabling HyperCloud Memory.

The USPTO previously rejected 13 claims under Netlist's '386 patent on multiple grounds including that SMART's Patent Application No. 2006/0117152 (now issued as U.S. Patent No. 8,250,295) invalidates claims. Subsequent to the PTO's rejection of 13 claims, Netlist attempted to add additional claims 14 through 60, however, the USPTO has rejected all of the old and new claims of the '386 patent. As previously indicated, SMART believes that its '152 application shows that SMART engineers invented "rank multiplication" technology in 2003. As SMART's '152 application was filed before Netlist's '386 Patent, SMART believes that Netlist is not entitled to the '386 patent.

Iain MacKenzie, President and CEO of SMART, commented that "We are very pleased that the USPTO has adopted our arguments and has rejected all of Netlist's '386 patent claims. We remain committed to our strategy of developing and protecting leading edge technology that can be commercialized in enterprise applications."

About SMART Modular
SMART Modular is a technology leader in the design, development and deployment of current and next-generation memory products. Combining leading-edge design and manufacturing with proven world-class support, SMART Modular leverages its deep expertise in DRAM, SRAM and Flash architectures with world-class board-layout design. SMART Modular delivers high-quality, high-reliability solutions to a broad customer base, including tier one computing and telecom OEMs. In support of these designs, SMART Modular provides award-winning innovations in memory and embedded storage technologies. SMART Modular is part of the SMART family of global companies. See www.smartm.com for more information.

About SMART Worldwide Holdings
The SMART family of companies are leading designers, manufacturers and suppliers of electronic subsystems for the most demanding OEMs around the world. The SMART companies have led the way over the past 23 years providing standard and custom products to today's leading global OEMs crossing all major electronic industries. These industries include PC, enterprise and industrial servers, networking, telecom, defense, aerospace, gaming and embedded application markets. Taking innovations from the design stage through manufacturing and delivery, SMART Modular Technologies has developed a comprehensive memory product line that includes DRAM, SRAM and Flash memory in various form factors. SMART Storage Systems offers high-performance, high-capacity SSDs for enterprise storage, enterprise server, data center, defense, aerospace, industrial automation, medical and transportation markets. SMART's presence in the U.S., Europe, Asia and Latin America enables it to provide its customers with proven expertise in international logistics, asset management and supply-chain management worldwide. See www.smartm.com for more information.