3/20/2006 -- Electronic News, Metrology vendor Nanometrics Inc. today announced its motion for stay in the patent litigation case brought by larger rival KLA-Tencor Corp. has been granted by Judge Jeffrey White in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
In August 2005, KLA-Tencor sued Nanometrics alleging certain products infringed KLA-Tencor intellectual property.
The lawsuit alleges that Nanometrics had infringed upon U.S. patent numbers 6,483,580 and 6,590,656. Both patents involved spectroscopic scatterometry technology used in film thickness measurement, which is a key element of optical critical dimension measurement technology. KLA initially filed the suit in U.S. District Court in Northern California.
Nanometrics has consistently asserted that it believes that none of its products infringe any intellectual property of KLA-Tencor and has maintained that it intends to vigorously and aggressively defend itself in the litigation.
As part of its defense, Nanometrics had filed a request for re-examination of the two allegedly infringed KLA-Tencor patents with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (PTO). These requests for re-examination were recently accepted for review by the PTO, according to the company.
Subsequent to the original claim, KLA-Tencor added a third patent to its complaint. The stay issued by the court covers all three of the patents in the suit.
KLA-Tencor could not be reached for comment.
Jennifer Prestigiacomo
