The ongoing patent litigation between ASM Lithography
and Nikon Corp. escalated Tuesday with ASML slapping a $95 million lawsuit
in a Japan court, accusing Nikon of patent infringement and antitrust
violations.
The patent squabble between ASML and Nikon have already engaged the
attention of courtrooms across the U.S and now ASML has moved to Tokyo to
ask for an injunction against Nikon to block the manufacture and sale of
lithography systems that allegedly infringe of its patent covering wafer
handling and moving wafers through the lithography system.
It is the third complaint ASML has filed against Nikon in the past five
months for patents involving lithography equipment, which is used to print
circuits on silicon wafers that become semiconductors or chips.
A California court ruled in July that patent infringement claims by ASML
against Nikon could proceed. That case goes to trial in 2004.
“ASML prefers to fight and win in the marketplace, not in the courtroom.
However, Nikon has chosen to litigate rather than compete,” said ASML chief
executive Doug Dunn. “Their unjust claim to our intellectual property will
be vigorously contested.”
The Veldhoven, Netherlands-based ASML competes directly with Nikon in the
market for computer chip machinery and industry watchers say the patent tiff
is a small part of the bigger issue of securing business from Intel .
Intel, the world’s largest chip maker, is a Nikon investor and customer and
ASML said Nikon’s decision to pursue litigation was part of a plan to block
it from getting Intel’s business.
The latest twist in the dispute comes on the heels of a move by Nikon to
prevent ASML from shipping certain tools to the U.S by alleging patent
infringement. Nikon has filed a complaint to International Trade Commission
(ITC).
An ITC hearing on that complaint is scheduled to begin in Washington D.C. on
September 4.
