NEW YORK (AFX) - Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd., an Israeli maker of
monitoring systems used by semiconductor manufacturers, on Monday said it plans
to fight a recent patent infringement lawsuit from competitor Nanometrics Inc.,
saying the allegations are without merit.
Milpitas, Calif.-based Nanometrics filed the suit last week in the U.S.
District Court for the Northern District of California. The filing is in
addition to a complaint filed in March, Nanometrics said.
The patents at issue in the current lawsuit relate to optical critical
dimension technology, also called scatterometry.
Last year, Nova filed suit against Nanometrics alleging patent infringement
covering integrated metrology systems. According to Nova, Nanometrics filed a
motion for summary judgment, which the court denied in March. The case is slated
for trial in May 2007.
Nova is seeking damages along with a permanent injunction to prevent
Nanometrics from continuing to sell integrated metrology products.
"The action taken last week by Nanometrics continues to demonstrate its
concern over the strength of the suit we brought against them over 18 months
ago," Nova President and CEO Gabi Seligsohn said.
Nova shares were recently up 9 cents to $2.04, while Nanometrics shares fell
5 cents to $9.53. Both companies' stock trades on the Nasdaq.
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