ArvinMeritor Will Appeal Patent Infringement Suit

    TROY, Mich., Feb. 12 ArvinMeritor, Inc.
announces today it will appeal Friday's decision against it in the patent
infringement suit brought by Eaton against ArvinMeritor on the Engine Synchro
Shift(TM) (ESS) transmission system.
    Judge Joseph Farnan of the U.S. District Court for the District of
Delaware rejected ArvinMeritor's defense that Eaton's patent had been obtained
improperly, and he ruled in favor of Eaton on patent enforceability.
    "We are disappointed that the District Court ruled in Eaton's favor," said
Vernon Baker, senior vice president and general counsel, ArvinMeritor.
"ArvinMeritor and its predecessor Rockwell International Corp. have believed
from the beginning Eaton's suit was meritless, and ArvinMeritor will appeal."
    "The Court's interpretation of the patent is not correct, and we believe
we proved that Eaton improperly obtained the patent on technology that had
actually been developed by another company, not Eaton," said Richard McLaren
of Welsh & Katz, Ltd., lead trial counsel for ArvinMeritor.
    "ArvinMeritor believes the Court's ruling is contrary to the testimony and
documents from Eaton's own files showing that Eaton had obtained the invention
through inequitable conduct," said M. Lee Murrah, Chief Intellectual Property
Counsel for ArvinMeritor.  "We will appeal to the Court of Appeals for the
Federal Circuit as soon as all proceedings are complete in the District
Court."
    "We feel confident that once the appeals court reviews the data, it will
be clear that Eaton is attempting to improperly deprive the market of
innovative products," said Dennis Kline, vice president, Sales, Commercial
Vehicle Systems, ArvinMeritor.  "ArvinMeritor, which has seven granted patents
and several additional patent applications pending for ESS, has appropriately
developed superior technology that our truck fleet customers have called the
lowest cost approach to transmission automation."
    ArvinMeritor is a successor in part to Rockwell's Automotive business
unit, which was spun off as Meritor Automotive, Inc. in 1997.
    ArvinMeritor, Inc. is a premier $7-billion global supplier of a broad
range of integrated systems, modules and components to the motor vehicle
industry.  The company serves light vehicle, commercial truck, trailer and
specialty original equipment manufacturers and related aftermarkets.  In
addition, ArvinMeritor is a leader in coil coating applications, including
those for the transportation, appliance, construction and furniture
industries.  The company is headquartered in Troy, Mich., and employs 36,000
people at more than 150 manufacturing facilities in 26 countries.
ArvinMeritor common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the
ticker symbol ARM.  For more information, visit the company's Web site at:
http://www.arvinmeritor.com .