Novellus Prevails in Applied Materials Patent Infringement Suit
PR Newswire ~ September 7, 2000 ~ 8:17 pm EST
SAN JOSE, Calif., Sept. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Novellus Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: NVLS), the productivity and innovation leader in thin-film deposition technology for the global semiconductor industry, today announced it has dealt another setback to Applied Materials, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMAT) in Applied's patent infringement lawsuit against Novellus and Varian Associates, Inc. On Aug. 8, 2000, U.S. District Judge Ronald M. Whyte issued an order stating that Novellus' INOVA(TM) physical vapor deposition (PVD) system does not infringe on Applied Materials' U.S. Patent No. 5,186,718. The court's order resulted from a motion for summary judgment 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," said Novellus CEO Richard S. Hill. "We are very pleased that the court has upheld our position and ruled that Novellus' INOVA has not infringed on Applied's patent. Too often, recently, companies have used frivolous lawsuits against emerging competitors in an attempt to lock them out of a market. We are pleased that justice has prevailed in this case."
Applied initiated its lawsuit against Novellus in June 1997 after the capital equipment manufacturer announced it would be acquiring Varian's TFS division, which was responsible for the original design and marketing of the INOVA system. Despite the lawsuit, Novellus and Varian completed the acquisition that same year. Applied alleged in its lawsuit that the INOVA and its Varian precursor, the MB2 system, infringed on four Applied patents.
Applied's U.S. Patent No. 5,186,718 is the third of four asserted Applied patents that have been the subject of a motion for summary judgment in its lawsuit against Novellus and Varian over the INOVA system. The court has previously ruled that two of the three asserted claims from Applied's U.S. Patent No. 5,171,412 are invalid and has deferred ruling on the validity of the third claim. Applied withdrew its infringement claims for its U.S. Patent No. 5,496,455 following the filing of a motion for summary judgment. To date, the court has not found valid any of Applied's claims that the INOVA system infringes on its patents.
About Novellus Systems
Novellus Systems Inc., an S&P 500 company, manufactures, markets and services advanced systems for the deposition of thin films on semiconductor wafers. The company's products are designed for high-volume production of advanced, leading- edge semiconductor devices at the lowest possible cost. Headquartered in San Jose, Calif., with subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, China, Japan, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan, Novellus is a publicly traded company on the Nasdaq stock exchange. Additional information about the company is available on Novellus' home page on the World Wide Web, located at www.novellus.com.
/CONTACT: Bob Climo, Marcom Director of Novellus Systems Inc., 408-943-9700, or fax, 408-570-2635, or bob.climo@novellus.com; or Christopher Castillo, Senior Account Director of MCA, 650-968-8900, or fax, 650-968-8990, or ccastillo@mcapr.com, for Novellus Systems, Inc./
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