Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: AZPN), a leading provider of software and services to the process industries, announced that on January 9, 2012, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, sitting in Houston, entered a final judgment and permanent injunction in litigation brought by AspenTech against a former AspenTech employee, Dr. Tekin Kunt, for violations of Dr. Kunt’s confidentiality and non-competition agreement with AspenTech, in the case entitled Aspen Technology, Inc. v Tekin A. Kunt and M3 Technology, Inc. AspenTech continues to assert claims in this litigation against M3 Technology, Inc.,  Dr. Kunt’s former employer, including claims for copyright infringement and misappropriation of trade secrets relating to AspenTech’s proprietary software.

The judgment, which was entered with Dr. Kunt’s consent, declares the confidentiality and non-competition agreement between AspenTech and Dr. Kunt to be valid and enforceable in all respects.  The agreement provided that its non-competition and non-solicitation provisions expired one year after Dr. Kunt’s departure from AspenTech.  As part of the recently-entered judgment, Dr. Kunt is enjoined from violating those non-competition and non-solicitation provisions with AspenTech for an additional year from entry of the judgment, and he is permanently enjoined from violating other provisions of the agreement.  The judgment also provides that Dr. Kunt will make a payment to AspenTech.

AspenTech commenced this litigation in April 2010.  In January 2011, Dr. Kunt admitted that he had in his possession numerous items that contained AspenTech company information, including a laptop computer, hard drives, a “thumb” drive, and various CDs and DVDs.

 About AspenTech 

AspenTech is a leading supplier of software that optimizes process manufacturing – for energy, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, engineering and construction, and other industries that manufacture and produce products from a chemical process.  With integrated aspenONE solutions, process manufacturers can implement best practices for optimizing their engineering, manufacturing and supply chain operations.  As a result, AspenTech customers are better able to increase capacity, improve margins, reduce costs and become more energy efficient.  To see how the world’s leading process manufacturers rely on AspenTech to achieve their operational excellence goals, visit www.aspentech.com  

Forward Looking Statements 

This press release contains forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Actual results may vary significantly from AspenTech’s expectations based on a number of risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation: demand for, or usage of, our aspenONE software declines for any reason; AspenTech’s failure to realize the anticipated financial (including cash flow) and operational benefits of the aspenONE subscription offering; unforeseen difficulties or uncertainties in the application of accounting standards; weaknesses in AspenTech’s internal controls; and other risk factors described from time to time in AspenTech’s periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

AspenTech cannot guarantee any future results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements. AspenTech expressly disclaims any current intention to update forward-looking statements after the date of this press release.