Direct Requests Temporary Restraining Order and Injunction

MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 28, 2005 Tiger Direct, Inc. - http://www.tigerdirect.com - , a Top-10 US eCommerce site, today filed a lawsuit against Apple Computer in the United States District Court for the District of Florida. The suit alleges Apple Computer engaged in trademark infringement and unfair trade practices in connection with its recent marketing campaign for the latest version of its "MAC OS X" operating system -- which Apple has named "Tiger." As a result of the perceived confusion between the products now being marketed by Apple under the "Tiger" brand, Tiger Direct has asked for a temporary restraining order and injunction against Apple Computer to stop further damage to Tiger Direct's well-known Tiger brand.

The lawsuit focuses on the pending release of Apple's OS X 10.4 "Tiger" operating system. Apple has been running a sizeable multi-media marketing campaign, promoting the OS X 10.4 "Tiger" operating system since about April 12, 2005. The promotions refer to "Tiger Essentials," Tiger Unleashed," "Tiger World Premiere" and "X Days until Tiger," and direct consumers to a "Tiger Center" that features products from manufacturers and product categories which are basically the same as the offerings by Tiger Direct. A preliminary injunction hearing has been scheduled for Tuesday, May 3, 2005.

Since the company's inception in the late 1980's, Tiger Direct and TigerSoftware catalogs and direct-mail pieces were sent to tens of millions of PC and MAC users. TigerDirect.com, the flagship website of TigerDirect, promotes Apple products among over 30,000 other items that it sells. In addition to the TigerDirect.com website, Tiger Direct markets through a monthly catalog with circulation of over 2 million and invests heavily on branding and direct response advertising across the world wide web.

Tiger Direct has been a quickly-growing online retailer, has been an Alexa top-300 website for several years, as well as a Top-10 eCommerce site (Nielsen Net Ratings) and a site consistently listed as "longest-visited" - exceeding a 15 minute average visit length.

About Tiger Direct, Inc.

Tiger Direct, Inc., a subsidiary of Systemax Inc. (NYSE:SYX), was established in 1987 to serve the needs of both personal & business computer users, selling via catalog, Internet and retail channels. Tiger Direct is one of the industry's leading multi-channel retailers of computer products, components and accessories. Based in Miami, Florida, Tiger Direct is part of a group of branded e-commerce web sites, direct mail catalogs, and relationship marketing selling name-brand PC hardware, related computer products, and industrial products, to businesses in North America and Europe.

CONTACT: Tiger Direct, Miami Lonny R. Paul, 305-415-2239 or Systemax Steve Goldschein, 516-608-7000

Last Updated: April 28, 2005 17:39 EDT