Iris: We have not considered legal action against govt

PETALING JAYA: Iris Corp Bhd has clarified that it could take legal action against the government for the Malaysian passport contract that it lost but stressed that it has not considered it.

In clarifying a news article to the stock exchange, Iris said during the company’s AGM on Sept 1 that the board was asked about the Malaysian passport contract it had lost.
The board had explained that Iris did not lose the contract as it had reached maturity and the government had awarded the contract to Datasonic Group Bhd.
“Shareholders had earlier enquired about the legal case in the US where Iris was taking legal action against the US government for patent infringement and the shareholders had drawn their own conclusions that Iris would also take similar steps against the government.
“The board did say that it could take legal action but has not even considered it. It is apparent that the shareholders had misconstrued the answer provided by the board and took it as Iris will be taking legal action against the government,” Iris explained yesterday.
It added that Datasonic, being the present supplier of the chips for the Malaysian passport, was never the topic in the AGM.
“We strongly believe that the reporter from Focus Malaysia had spoken to the shareholders at the end of the AGM and subsequently reported it,” said Iris.
It was reported that Iris, which produced the world’s first electronic passport and national multi-application smart card, is considering taking legal action against Datasonic and the authorities for alleged infringement of its e-passport chips technology.