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DaimlerChrysler Recognizes Employee Creativity with Patent Awards

15 August 2000

DaimlerChrysler Recognizes Employee Creativity with Patent Awards

    AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - DaimlerChrysler Corporation honored more than 400 
employee inventors Monday at the Company's annual Patent Awards Banquet.  Among 
the awards presented were the Walter P. Chrysler Design Award and the Walter P. 
Chrysler Technology Award.

    DaimlerChrysler was awarded a record 279 patents in 1999 -- 29 design
patents and 250 utility patents -- a 30 percent increase in just one year.

    A team of four employees shared the Walter P. Chrysler Design Award,
presented by John E. Herlitz, Senior Vice President - Design, Special
Assignment.

    "The road from patent to profitability can be very long," said Herlitz.
"Each of us knows -- all too well -- just how much work is involved in
designing, engineering and manufacturing new cars and trucks.  This is a
special day for all of us at DaimlerChrysler, because its gives us a chance to
showcase the incredible reservoir of talent we have at this company."

    Winners of the Design Award are Bryan Nesbitt, Steven Ferrerio, William
Dayton and K. Neil Walling for the PT Cruiser body.  Two other teams that were
nominated for the award designed the Dodge Charger Concept Vehicle and the
Jeep(R) Fuel Cell Concept Vehicle.

    The Walter P. Chrysler Technology Award, also presented by Herlitz was
expanded this year to include a second group of nominees.

    Winners of the Walter P. Chrysler Technology Award are Robert Nankee II,
Yi Cheng, Shean Huff, Mary Joyce, Jerry Kennie, Dennis Krozek, Richard Moote,
Roland Richardson and Gary Seitz for the Method of Determining the Composition
of Fuel in a Flexible Fueled Vehicle.  The other winners are William Rotramel,
Yi Cheng, Mark Hope, Shean Huff, Mary Joyce, Howard Krausman, Richard Moote,
John Prevost, Gary Seitz and Patrick McCourt for the Method of Determining the
Composition of Fuel in a Flexible Fueled Vehicle Without an O2 Sensor.  The
patents are being considered as one invention.

    Two other teams were nominated for the award.  Their inventions focused on
real-time misfire detection and an environmentally sensitive hybrid vehicle.

    Winners receive a medallion and a cash award of $3,000.

    The awards are made annually to inventors of significant patents, as
selected by the DaimlerChrysler Patent Review Committee.  The names of the
winning inventors are engraved on trophies for permanent display in the
DaimlerChrysler Technology Center.