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Focuses on the United States District Court's preliminary injunction against Avant!'s Aquarius place-and-route software tools. Legal victory for Avant!'s rival Cadence Design Systems; Claims by Cadence that Avant!'s data structures are similar to Cadence's corresponding data structures; Implications of the injunction; Court's decision to lift the stay on proceedings and open the path for a trial in the civil case.

Highlights the reaction of Jose Costello, former head of Cadence Design Systems Inc., to the no contest please by several executives of Avant! Corp. to a lawsuit filed by Cadence Design Systems Inc. Details on the lawsuit; Efforts of Costello to convince the executives in the semiconductor industry to boycott Avant! for stealing industrial secrets from Cadence; Costello's call for a change in the culture of the industry.

Reports on the reindictment against Avant! Corp. on charges relating to the theft of Cadence Design Systems Incorporated's integrated circuit design technologies. Overview of the case; Implication of the reindictment; Contention of Avant! Corp.

Reports on the criminal indictments (CI) issued by the Santa Clara County Criminal Grand Jury against Avant! Corp. (AC) for allegedly conspiring to steal trade secrets from Cadence Design Systems. Prevention of the sale, licensing and copying of AC's Aquarius place and route software tools; Justification of the CI by the nature of the alleged offense.

Reports on the victory of Avant! Corp. in the copyright lawsuit filed by Cadence Design Systems Inc. Implication of the ruling to other lawsuits filed against Avant!; Details on the ruling; Remarks from the legal counsels of Cadence.

Discloses that Cadence Design Systems has presented the United States District Court in San Jose, California with new evidence of alleged copyright infringement and trade secret theft by Avant! Corp. Request to the court to include Avant!'s Aquarius products in the preliminary injunction; Damage estimated by Cadence in its filing; Details about Avant!'s alleged copying of Cadence's Design Framework II source code.

Focuses on Avant! Corp.'s growth strategies driven by the patent infringement lawsuit filed by Cadence. Mergers and acquisitions; Development of a 0.25-micron technology; Introduction of products derived from the combination of newly developed and acquired technology; Competition with Galax!.

Opinion. Focuses on the approach used by Intel Corp. in protecting its intellectual property and its implications on the lawsuit of Cadence against Avant. Problems with taking legal actions to protect one's intellectual property; Stock performance of Intel as a result of its strategy.

Reports on the decision by the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a March 1997 ruling by the US District Court to allow the sale of Avant! Corp.'s ArcCell products. Details of the suit filed by Cadence Design Systems against Avant!; Speculations on the impact of the decision on Avant!'s operations.

Discusses the likelihood that Santa Clara County, California judge Ronald B. Whyte will postpone the civil case filed by Cadence Design Systems against Avant! Corp. Criminal charges filed by the county district attorney's office in the case `People of California vs. Avant!'; Cadence's complaint that Avant! was guilty of misappropriation of trade secrets, copyright infringement, conspiracy and unfair competition.

Announces Avant!'s move to disqualify the local district attorney for alleged improper conflict of interest in a motion charging Cadence Design Systems insiders of abuse of confidential law enforcement information to improperly trade Avant! stock. Background on the motion filed before the Santa Clara County Municipal Court; Charges filed against Cadence; Terms of the Avant! motion.

Reports on the felony charges filed by Cadence Design Systems against Avant! Corp. for alleged conspiracy and theft of trade secrets. Avant! executives and employees as co-respondents to the suit; Arraignment of six defendants in a San Jose, California municipal court on April 18, 1997; Impact of the lawsuit on Avant!'s stock; Cadence's estimated losses due to theft of trade secrets.

Focuses on the U.S. District Court's ruling which partly granted and partly denied Cadence Design Systems' motion for a preliminary injunction order finding Avant! had copied Cadence framework source code. Likelihood of success in Cadence's case of copyright infringement and misappropriation of trade secrets; Denial of Cadence's motion to enjoin the sale and support of Avant!'s IC place-and-route software.

Reports that Cadence Design Systems filed a civil lawsuit against Avant! Corp. Accusation that Avant! copied source code from a Cadence integrated circuit (IC) layout package; Specifics of the allegations.

Reports that Avant! Corp. and Cadence Design Systems have been ordered by United States District Judge Donald Whyte to schedule a settlement conference or mediation in regard to the patent infringement litigation between the companies. How Cadence views the order by Whyte; Details on Whyte's order.

Editorial. Asserts that it is not wise to dismiss anything as impossible with regards to the dispute between Cadence and Avant!. Comparison to the effort to impeach United States President Bill Clinton against the voters' wish; Claim of pundits on the settlement of the intellectual property infringement suit; Similarity to the cases of Franklin Computer and Digital Equipment.

Reports that Municipal Judge Thomas Cain of Santa Clara County, California has withdrawn from the criminal case against Avant! executives. Cadence Design Systems' presentation of additional evidence of alleged copyright infringement and trade secret theft against Avant!; Response of the stock market to Cain's withdrawal. INSET: One judge to another..

Reports that the Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Julius Finkelstein has asked that Municipal Judge Thomas Cain step down from the Cadence-Avant! trade-secrets theft case in the California county. Doubt on Cain's impartiality; Implications for the civil and criminal cases; Avant! attorneys' claim that lead prosecutor Finkelstein's acceptance of computer consulting services from the alleged victim, Cadence, was wrong.

Discloses Judge Thomas William Cain's preliminary ruling on Avant! Corp.'s petition to have the Santa Clara County District Attorney's (DA) office removed from prosecuting the company in the criminal case filed by Cadence Design Systems. Eight areas that Cain wants to examine at an evidentiary hearing before making a final ruling; Probe into the issue of whether or not the DA asked Cadence for contributions.

Reports that Avant! Corp. has refiled its counterclaim against Cadence Design Systems Inc.

Reports on US District Court Judge Ronald White's decision on the lawsuit filed by Cadence Design Systems against Avant! Corp. Conflict over whether Avant!'s production of products was based on pirated information; Avant!'s products affected by the order; Significance of the ruling to Cadence Design.

Reports that a federal judge agreed to put off a trial on the civil lawsuit Cadence Design Systems Inc. filed against Avant! until the criminal charges pending against Avant! are resolved. Order for Avant! to post a bond of $5 million pending the resumption of the civil action; Denials of the legal skirmish.

Reports that the Santa Clara County District Attorney's (DA) office has accumulated 43 gigabytes of disk space on the Avant!-Cadence Design Systems source-code civil lawsuit.

Reports that Cadence Design Systems is lined up for back-to-back courtroom appearances against Avant! and Cooper & Chyan Technology.

Focuses on Avant!'s release of its memorandum opposing Cadence Design Systems' motion for preliminary injunction. Release by the Santa Ana County, California district attorney's affidavit supporting its search warrant used in the raid of Avant!; Highlights.

Reports on Avant! Corp.'s claims that experts found a complete lack of technical evidence in Cadence Design Systems' lawsuit against it. Background information on the lawsuit.

Focuses on Cadence Design Systems' filing of redacted brief on April 19, 1996, consisting of evidence gathered to substantiate its December 1995 lawsuit against Avant! Corp.

Reports that Avant! Corp. filed an amended counterclaim against Cadence Design Systems and its chief executive officer, Joseph Costello. Opposition to Costello's requested RICO dismissal; Motion to bifurcate the trial; Request to dismiss counterclaims.

Reveals that Avant! Corp. has filed a claim against Cadence Design Systems in response to a suit filed by Cadence in December of 1995 that resulted in a pending criminal investigation of Avant!. Suit also against Cadence President and Chief Executive Officer Joseph Costello; Reasons for Avant!'s filing of the suit; Products introduced by both companies in the integrated circuit (IC) layout software market.

Reveals that Avant! Corp. plans to file a countersuit against Cadence Design Systems. Reasons for the suit; The intention of naming Cadence President/CEO Joseph Costello as a defendant in the lawsuit; Three unidentified semiconductor manufacturers placing orders with Avant!