Gentex Corporation Settles Litigation With Muth

ZEELAND, MI--(Marketwire - February 20, 2008) - Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ: GNTX) ("the Company" or "Gentex"), the Zeeland, Michigan-based manufacturer of automatic-dimming rearview mirrors and commercial fire protection products, today announced that on February 15, 2008, the Company entered into a Settlement And Release Agreement And Covenants Not To Sue ("Agreement") with K.W. Muth Company, Inc., Muth Company LLC, Muth Glass Technologies LLC and Muth Mirror Systems LLC (collectively "Muth"), subject to Bankruptcy Court approval. The document was made publicly available late on February 19, 2008, in a filing with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.

Per the Agreement, the parties agreed to settle the Court's judgment against Gentex for damages related to breach of contract at a reduced amount of $2,550,000, compared with the original $2,885,000 judgment originally entered by the Court. In addition, under the Agreement the parties agreed to grant the other party a ten-year covenant not to sue for each company's core business, to release each other from all claims that occurred in the past, and not appeal the Court's rulings. Once the Agreement is approved by the Bankruptcy Court, the adjustment to the original judgment for damages will be reflected in the Company's financial results for the first quarter of 2008. The original judgment was reflected in the Company's financial results for the year ended December 31, 2007. Gentex anticipates that the Bankruptcy Court will approve the Agreement.

"We are very pleased that we were able to come to a mutually beneficial agreement with Muth on this litigation settlement, and to put this current litigation behind us and avoid future litigation," said Gentex Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer Fred Bauer. "Muth will now have access shortly to the judgment funds as opposed to waiting for two to three years if this case had gone through the appeals process. This should enable Muth to more rapidly emerge from bankruptcy.

"From Gentex's perspective, we are pleased to be able to further broaden our mirror-based product offerings without the threat of being sued on Muth's patents for a period of ten years. Additionally, we obviously are pleased to have negotiated a reduced amount that will be required to be paid to Muth," concluded Bauer.

Founded in 1974, Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ: GNTX) is an international company that provides high-quality products to the worldwide automotive industry and North American fire protection market. Based in Zeeland, Michigan, the Company develops, manufactures and markets interior and exterior automatic-dimming automotive rearview mirrors that utilize proprietary electrochromic technology to dim in proportion to the amount of headlight glare from trailing vehicle headlamps. Many of the mirrors are sold with advanced electronic features, and approximately 96 percent of the Company's revenues are derived from the sales of auto-dimming mirrors to nearly every major automaker in the world.

Contact Information: CONTACT: Connie Hamblin 616-772-1800