Press Release

Centricut Wins Approval to Manufacture Contested Electrodes

March 8, 2005, West Lebanon, New Hampshire - Centricut, a subsidiary of Hypertherm, Inc., a leading worldwide provider of plasma cutting technology, announced a legal victory over ESAB® of Florence, South Carolina. The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed an earlier decision of a federal New Hampshire court, lifting an injunction prohibiting the manufacture of certain electrodes by Centricut®.

In 1999, Centricut® filed an action in New Hampshire District Court seeking a court determination that the electrodes did not infringe ESAB®'s U.S. Patent Nos. 5,023,425 and Des. 384,682. Although the New Hampshire court found in favor of ESAB®, the appeals court reversed the determination because ESAB® failed to meet the required standard of proof.

This victory enables Centricut® to complement its SilverLine® brand of welded composite electrodes by making and selling brazed composite electrodes for use with ESAB® PT-15XL, PT-19XL, and PT-19XLS torches, and other electrodes for other OEMs.

For more information contact: Dean Lizotte 603-298-7849

dklizotte@centricut.com