ArvinMeritor Prevails in Transmission Technology Dispute

TROY, Mich., May 10, 2004 -- ArvinMeritor, Inc. announced today that the U.S. Patent Board of Appeals and Patent Interferences has issued judgment in ArvinMeritor's favor against Eaton Corporation on all claims in two related transmission patent interferences. An interference is a court-like proceeding in the Patent Office to determine who was first to make an invention. Under U.S. law, the first to invent is deemed the owner of the patent. The decision was rendered on April 29, 2004.

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"This is another significant legal victory for ArvinMeritor and our second successful defense against Eaton's legal assaults on our transmission business," said Tom Gosnell, president of ArvinMeritor's Commercial Vehicle Systems business group. "Eaton's unsuccessful effort to seize our torque prediction patent further validates our position as the technology leader in this product. As we've said repeatedly, we'll continue to aggressively defend all of our product technology."

The interferences involved an ArvinMeritor U.S. patent on torque prediction technology. Torque prediction is an enabling technology for some automated transmissions.

In a related matter, last December, ArvinMeritor and ZF Friedrichshafen AG announced they were committed to a vigorous defense against the legal actions launched by Eaton, in connection with the FreedomLine automated manual heavy truck transmission. The FreedomLine transmission is the most advanced, automated transmission in North America. Its innovative design is protected by numerous patents worldwide.

ArvinMeritor, Inc. is a premier $8-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. Headquartered in Troy, Mich., ArvinMeritor employs approximately 32,000 people at more than 150 manufacturing facilities in 27 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: www.arvinmeritor.com .

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