10:21 PM ET 07/24/97

Gateway 2000 disputes Rightiming's Amiga rights

    NEW YORK, July 24 (Reuter) - Gateway 2000 Inc  said
on Thursday it disputes Rightiming Electronics Corp's license
to manufacture Amigas, their right to sell their license and
any claims they have made with respect to this license and
their apparent sale of all Amiga patents to Lotus Pacific Inc's
 subsidiary, Regent Electronics Corp.
    The assets and rights in dispute include the
Commodore-Amiga patents, licenses, trademarks and copyrights to
be registered and used in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao and
the bordering countries between China and the former Soviet
Union.
    In an earlier news development, Lotus Pacific said that
Regent acquired the technology assets from Rightiming for $5
million and eight million shares of Regent's common stock.
    Richard Ho, a spokesperson for Rightiming, said that
Rightiming acquired the Amiga technology rights to be used in
China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao in 1995 from the German
computer retailer, Escom AG .
    Jim Taylor, a spokesperson for Gateway, said Gateway
acquired the Amiga technology rights during Escom's bankruptcy
in August 1996.
    Gateway, in a prepared statement, said it "owns all Amiga
patents, copyrights and trademarks worldwide and it will
continue to license Amiga technology to qualified companies."
    Gateway said further it "disputes any claims they
(Rightiming)have made with respect to Amiga patents,
copyrights, or trademarks."
    A Regent spokesperson, who declined to be identified, said
if Gateway's claim to the technology rights was good, then both
Regent and Gateway have equal claims to those technology rights.
    Gateway said it had no comment on any future actions it
plans to take or on the Regent spokesperson's comments about
both companies having equal claims to the technology rights.