O.T. but maybe a good ref case????
Novellus Says It Prevails in Applied Materials Suit
Thursday September 7 9:57 PM ET
SAN JOSE, Calif. (Reuters) - Novellus Systems Inc. (NasdaqNM:NVLS - news) said on Thursday it prevailed in one round of a three-year-old patent infringement suit filed against it and Varian Associates Inc., another semiconductor equipment maker, by Applied Materials Inc. (NasdaqNM:AMAT - news), the dominant maker of chip production equipment.
On Aug. 8, U.S. District Judge Ronald Whyte issued an order stating that Novellus' INOVA physical vapor deposition (PVD) system does not infringe on an Applied Materials patent, Novellus said. The order stemmed from a motion for summary judgement filed by Novellus and Varian.
``We believe that with this lawsuit Applied Materials attempted to stifle competition in the PVD market, an area in which it has held a tremendous majority of the market share for some time,'' Novellus Chief Executive Officer Richard Hill said in a statement. ``We are very pleased that the court has upheld our position and ruled that Novellus' INOVA has not infringed on Applied's patent.''
An Applied spokesman said that the court's ruling addressed only the INOVA product in the form made and sold by Varian and not subsequently made and sold by Novellus. Novellus had bought the INOVA technology from Varian earlier.
``In this specific case, the court ruled that the INOVA in the form made and sold by Varian, did not infringe,'' said Jeff Lettes, an Applied Materials spokesman. ``The court did not rule with regard to the INOVA as modified by Novellus.''
``Applied Materials will spend more than $1 billion in research and development this year because technology is the lifeblood of our company,'' Lettes said. ``We compete in the marketplace based on the merits of our products.''
Applied Materials initiated its lawsuit against Novellus in June 1997 after Novellus said it would be acquiring Varian's TFS division, which was responsible for the original design and marketing of the INOVA system. Applied alleged in its lawsuit that the INOVA and its Varian precursor, the MB2 system, infringed on four Applied patents, Novellus said.
According to Novellus, the court has not yet found that any of Applied's claims that the INOVA system infringes on its patents are valid. |
