Zi Corporation Statement Re Pending Appeal in Patent Infringement Case

News release

ZI CORPORATION STATEMENT RE
PENDING APPEAL IN PATENT INFRINGEMENT CASE

NEWS RELEASE for September 4, 2002

CALGARY, AB (September 4, 2002) . . . . Zi Corporation (Nasdaq:ZICA) (TSE:ZIC) announced today that the jury returned a verdict unfavorable to the Company in a lawsuit against it by Tegic Communications Inc., a unit of AOL Time Warner. The jury found in favor of AOL Time Warner with regard to infringement, and set an amount of damages of US$9 million. Zi will appeal the verdict.

This trial was held to decide issues regarding Zi's older version of eZiText® which are not being sold in the United States. The jury decision does not affect Zi's existing eZiText® product line in the United States or anywhere else in the world.

The trial was held in the US District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco. Earlier this year, on February 21, the court ruled in a summary judgement that Zi's current product line, eZiText® v.4.5, does not infringe the Tegic/AOL Time Warner patents.

Zi Corporation Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Michael E. Lobsinger commented, "The arguments by both sides in this trial hinged on highly technical issues related to software. We are confident that our products do not in fact infringe on any valid patents, and believe that we will prevail on appeal."

About Zi Corp

Zi Corporation is a market-driven technology company delivering intelligent interface solutions to enhance the user experience of wireless and consumer technologies. The company's core technology product, eZiText® connects people to short messaging, e-mail, e-commerce, Web browsing and similar applications in more than 35 languages and regional dialects. Zi supports its strategic partners from offices in Calgary, Beijing, Hong Kong, London, San Francisco, Shenzhen and Stockholm. A publicly traded company, Zi Corporation is listed on the Nasdaq National Market (ZICA) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (ZIC).

Certain statements in this press release that involve expectations or intentions (such as those relating to future deployments or planned cooperation) may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The information in this press release is based on Zi Corporation's current expectations and assumptions, and is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. Such risks include, among others, general business and economic conditions, competitive actions, continued acceptance of Zi Corporation's products and services and dependence on third party performance as well as the risks and uncertainties referred to in Zi Corporation's 20-F for the most recent calendar year that is filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The reader should not place undue reliance on such forward looking statements. Zi Corporation does not assume any obligation to update such forward looking statements.

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Contacts:

Allen & Caron Inc.
Jill Bertotti (investors)
jill@allencaron.com
Len Hall (media)
len@allencaron.com
949-474-4300 Zi Corporation
Dale Kearns
Chief Financial Officer
investor@zicorp.com
403-233-8875 FitzGerald Communications
Fred Bateman (media)
fbateman@fitzgerald.com
415-677-0208

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