Expands Commitment to Telephony Standards by Providing Patents to both the VoiceXML and SALT Communities

PEABODY, Mass., March 31, 2003 - ScanSoft, Inc. (Nasdaq: SSFT), a leading supplier of imaging, speech and language solutions, today announced it will agree to license its patent claims that are deemed essential to the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) VoiceXML 2.0 specification on royalty-free terms in connection with any implementation of the VoiceXML 2.0 specification as part of a W3C Recommendation. VoiceXML 2.0 is a dialog markup language for voice browsers that will permit users to access the Web using speech synthesis, pre-recorded audio, and speech recognition.

In January 2003, ScanSoft acquired from Royal Philips Electronics N.V. its Telephony and Voice Control business groups. In connection with the acquisition, ScanSoft acquired a portfolio of speech technology patents, including two patents that Philips had previously declared contained claims that may be essential to the VoiceXML 2.0 specification. Similar to its commitments as a member of the Speech and Language Tags (SALT) Forum, ScanSoft decided that it would make these essential claims available on a royalty-free basis.

The W3C is working to develop specifications to allow users to interact with the Web via key pads, spoken commands, listening to prerecorded speech, synthetic speech and music. With the number of telephone lines and mobile phones exceeding one billion units worldwide, the specifications will allow an unprecedented number of people to use any telephone to access appropriately designed Web-based services.

About ScanSoft, Inc.

ScanSoft, Inc. (Nasdaq: SSFT) is a leading supplier of imaging, speech and language solutions that are used to automate a wide range of manual processes - saving time, increasing worker productivity and improving customer service. For more information regarding ScanSoft products and technologies, please visit www.ScanSoft.com

Trademark reference: ScanSoft and the ScanSoft logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of ScanSoft, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other company or product names mentioned may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

The statements in this press release that relate to future plans, events or performance are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including risks associated with market trends, competitive factors, and other risks identified in ScanSoft's SEC filings. Actual results, events and performance may differ materially. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on these forward-looking statement

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