STATEMENT REGARDING DAINESE LAWSUITS AGAINST ALPINESTARS

VICENZA, Ialy (Dec. 29, 2015) – With respect to Alpinestars’ “Statement regarding press coverage of Patent Challenge,” and for the sake of clarity, Dainese deems it necessary to reply to the following claim:

“In Germany, Dainese did make a direct request to certain retailers, that they cease and desist from offering for sale the Alpinestars Tech-Air Street system, however, no legal action has been taken against Alpinestars.”

In fact:

• In October 2015, the Court of Munich released two autonomous preliminary injunctions against a German Alpinestars dealer, confirming that the Alpinestars Tech-Air system infringes two Dainese patents in Europe.
• Dainese has also recently filed, before a German Court, an additional lawsuit against Alpinestars, seeking compensatory damages for infringement of Dainese’s patents and the halting of commercialization of the Tech-Air system in Germany.

In addition, Dainese would like to clarify that:

• Dainese has never received a cease-and-desist letter from Alpinestars.
• Dainese has filed a lawsuit against Alpinestars before an Italian court, seeking compensatory damages for infringement of Dainese’s patents, as well as an urgent preliminary injunction for halting the commercialization of the Tech-Air system in Italy.
• Dainese’s patents have been released by the European Patent Office following a long verification procedure, and are therefore registered and fully valid.

At this time, Dainese will not comment further on the merit of those lawsuits, instead preferring to discuss them in the appropriate venues.

Advocating and delivering safety to people exposed to traumatic injuries in dynamic sports has been the mission of Dainese since Lino Dainese founded the company in 1972. From the very first day, Dainese has been the innovator for protection in active sports, with major industry firsts including the back protector for motorcycle riding, skiing, mountain biking and equestrian use, as well as the D-air® airbag system, which Mr. Dainese conceived in 1995.

• Dainese owns 26 patents on the D-air technology and has made extensive investments in the research, invention, development, manufacture and marketing of the first and most innovative airbag-protection platform for motorcyclists: the D-air systems for racetrack and road use.
• In 2015, D-air for racetrack use became an open platform, as D-air Armor was integrated into the products of other motorcycle-garment manufacturers, enabling more riders to take advantage of the safety provided by the Dainese D-air system.
• The D-air platform has also been used to develop D-air Ski, an innovative airbag system for use in skiing, as well as airbag systems for use in the automotive field.

SEE “DAINESE D-AIR MILESTONES” LIST BELOW

About the Dainese Group

Founded in 1972 by Lino Dainese, Dainese produces protective wear for motorcycling, mountain biking, winter sports and equestrian use. In 2007 the company acquired premium race- and sport-helmet manufacturer AGV, and in 2015 it acquired premium winter sports and cycling protective-gear brand POC. Dainese, AGV and POC protective products showcase some of the most innovative technologies in action sports and are used by the world’s top athletes. Headquartered in Vicenza, Italy, Dainese is distributed in North America exclusively by Dainese USA, which, along with Parts Unlimited, also distributes AGV helmets.

DAINESE D-AIR MILESTONES

• 1995: Lino Dainese has the idea to protect motorcycle riders with air, marking the birth of the D-air® concept.
• 2000: The first D-air prototype for road use is presented in Munich.*
• 2006: The D-air system for racetrack use—the first self-contained motorcycle airbag system that independently functions without any physical connection to the motorcycle—deploys during an organized test in Adria, Italy.
• 2007: The first D-air deployment during an official Grand Prix of the MotoGP® World Championship occurs in a fall by Dainese D-air rider Simone Grotzky at the Valencia Grand Prix.*
• 2008: The first crash tests of a prototype D-air system for road use are carried out.
• March 2009: Ducati and Dainese begin a partnership for the full integration of D-air into a production motorcycle.
• 2009: During the German Grand Prix, for the first time, at least one rider in every category wears a suit fitted with D-air for racetrack use.*
• 2010: Having passed more than 800 individual tests, D-air for racetrack use is awarded certification by Tüv Süd, one of the most respected European Certification centers.*
• January 2011: Dainese and the International Ski Federation (FIS®) sign a cooperation agreement to develop D-air Ski, a protective system based on the D-air platform, to prevent injuries to skiers competing in the Alpine Skiing World Cup speed disciplines (Downhill and Super-G).
• March 2011: D-air for racetrack use becomes available to the public and is distributed to the market.*
• November 2011: D-air for road use is presented at the EICMA show in Milan.
• 2012: ADAC, the respected German Automobile Club, officially recognizes the exceptional performance of D-air for road use.
• 2012: Having passed more than 800 individual tests, D-air for road use is awarded certification by Tüv Süd, which followed automotive safety standards while carrying out hundreds of tests on D-air’s harmlessness, protective features, electronics safety and ergonomics. D-air for road use and racetrack use are the only motorcycle airbag systems to be certified by Tüv Süd.*
• April 2012: D-air for road use becomes available to the public and is distributed to the market.*
• May 2012: Dainese supplies and protects the Italian Motorway Patrol Service with D-air for road use.
• September 2012: At the IAA Commercial Vehicles show in Hannover, Germany, Dainese and Iveco present new solutions for protecting the occupants of light and heavy commercial trucks, marking the first use of D-air in the automotive field.
• 2013: BMW and Dainese begin a partnership to integrate D-air for racetrack use in the leather suit dedicated to the BMW 1000 RR, the DoubleR Race AIR BMW suit.
• 2014: D-air for road use passes tests carried out by the French Sécurité Réparation Automobiles (SRA).
• 2014: Ducati and Dainese announce the launch of the first D-air for road use to be fully integrated with a motorcycle, the Ducati Multistrada D-air.*
• May 2015: D-air for racetrack use becomes an open platform, as D-air Armor is integrated into the products of other motorcycle-garment manufacturers, enabling more riders to take advantage of the safety provided by the Dainese D-air system.*
• June 2015: Dainese and Ducati receive the prestigious Professor Ferdinand Porsche award, for pioneering research and development work in the field of automotive engineering with the Ducati Multistrada D-air.
• September 2015: Dainese celebrates 1,000 deployments of the D-air systems and presents the D-air Misano 1000, a leather jacket with a stand-alone electronically deployed airbag system for road use.
• October 2015: After five years of intense collaboration with the FIS, including telemetry data collection begun in January 2011, D-air Ski is officially used in Alpine Skiing World Cup speed-discipline races during 2015/2016 season, protecting a number of skiers on the American, Canadian, Austrian and Italian Teams.*
• December 2015: D-air Ski is deployed for the first time during an official race of the Alpine Skiing World Cup, in Italy, likely preventing further thoracic injuries to Olympic downhill gold medalist Matthias Mayer.*

*Indicates a first in the area of airbag technology.