Court confirms Camtek infringed Rudolph patent
A ruling was recently made that Camtek was in violation of Rudolph's patent with its wafer inspection tool offerings
Rudolph Technologies, Inc. a provider of process characterisation equipment, lithography equipment and software for wafer fabs and advanced packaging facilities, has announced another favourable ruling in its ongoing patent infringement suit against Israeli manufacturer, Camtek, Ltd.
On March 31st, 2014, Judge John R. Tunheim ruled in Rudolph's favour finding that Camtek's Falcon products infringed Rudolph's US patent no. 6,826,298, which covers continuous inspection of wafers using strobing illumination.
"The judge's ruling is a significant milestone toward Rudolph ultimately prevailing in this case. With this decision, the court has confirmed that Camtek was in violation of Rudolph's patent with its tool offerings, obviating the need for a limited trial reflected in the Federal Court of Appeals order back in August of 2011," says Robert Koch, Rudolph's vice president and general counsel. "We will continue to pursue this case vigorously to bring it to a successful conclusion for Rudolph."
Rudolph will petition the court to reinstate a permanent injunction against the sale by Camtek of its infringing semiconductor inspection systems. Rudolph also anticipates that the damages originally awarded by the jury in 2009 will be reinstated, as well as related interest and all subsequently awarded damages.
A subsequent lawsuit has additionally been filed by Rudolph, alleging infringement of Rudolph's US patent no. 7,729,528, also for an Automated Wafer Defect Inspection System And A Process Of Performing Such Inspection, by each of Camtek's current inspection tool offerings.
