To All:
AG Associates Sues Applied
Materials for Additional Patent Infringement
ÿÿÿÿBusiness Editors
ÿÿÿÿSAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 17, 1998--AG Associates
(NASDAQ:AGAI), the pioneer and a leading supplier of advanced, single-wafer rapid thermal
processing (RTP) equipment used in the manufacture of integrated circuits (ICs), today
announced it has filed amended counter claims against Applied Materials, Inc. (Santa Clara,
Calif.) in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (San Jose) for the
infringement of several patents held by AG Associates, bringing the total number of patents
allegedly infringed upon by Applied Materials to four.
ÿÿÿÿAccording to AG Associates, the patents pertain to processes and hardware used during
the semiconductor manufacturing cycle. Specifically, the company alleges that Applied
Materials infringes on U.S. Patent No. 5,156,820, entitled, "Reaction Chamber with
Controlled Radiant Energy Heating and Distributed Reactant Flow" concerning radiantly
heated reaction chambers; U.S. Patent No. 5,324,684, entitled, "Gas Phase Doping of
Semiconductor Material in a Cold-Wall Radiantly Heated Reactor Under Reduced Pressure"
concerning gas phase doping methods; and U.S. Patent No. 5,002,630, entitled, "Method for
High Temperature Thermal Processing with Reduced Convective Heat Loss" concerning high
temperature thermal processing with minimal heat loss.
ÿÿÿÿAG Associates states that Applied Materials infringes upon these patents with the
manufacture, use and sale of its RTP Centura(tm), Epi Centura(tm) and Polycide Centura(tm)
systems, which utilize these patented technologies to perform doped polysilicon deposition,
epitaxial silicon deposition, formation and gas phase doping of hemispherical grain silicon
(HSG) and silicon nitride deposition. AG Associates' counter claims seek damages and
injunctions against the further manufacture, use and sale of these systems.
ÿÿÿÿApplied Materials initiated the lawsuit against AG Associates in May 1997. In November
of the same year, AG Associates filed a counter claim against Applied Materials for
infringement of U.S. Patent No. 4,331,485, entitled Method for Heat Treating
Semiconductor Material Using High Intensity CW Lamps issued to Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer Dr. Arnon Gat. In the counter claim, AG Associates alleges that Applied
Materials infringes upon the patent with the manufacture, use and sale of its RTP Centura
system, which utilizes this patented technology to heat wafers in the manufacture of ICs.
ÿÿÿÿCommenting on the most recently filed counter claims, Gat said, "AG Associates
continues to vigorously defend its position and protect the intellectual properties we have
amassed over the last 17 years. We have decided to take further legal action against Applied
Materials to protect the enormous investments we and our shareholders have made in AG
Associates. As the pioneer of RTP, we firmly believe that healthy competition validates our
market strategy and accelerates the adoption of this enabling technology; however, we do not
condone Applied Materials' practice of using their aggressive legal tactics to manipulate the
marketplace or AG Associates."
ÿÿÿÿExcept for historical information, the matters discussed in this news release, including
the Company's plans to assert its patent claims, are forward-looking statements that are
subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially
from those projected, including the uncertainties of ongoing negotiations, unpredictability of
litigation and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's SEC reports. The
Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking information in this release.
ÿÿÿÿAG Associates is a leading supplier of rapid thermal processing equipment to the
worldwide semiconductor industry. Founded in 1981, AG Associates is headquartered in San
Jose, Calif., and maintains customer service and support centers in the United States, Europe
and Far East to support its global customer base. The company's common stock trades on the
Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol AGAI. For more information on the company, visit
AG Associates at: agassociates.com on the World Wide Web. |
