Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences Gives Luxtron Favorable Ruling on Ripple Technique Patent Claims; Administrative Patent Judge Confirms Luxtron as Developer of Non-Contact In-Situ Wafer Temperature Measurement Technique, Rejects Texas Instruments' Claim.SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 12, 1997--Luxtron Corporation announced today that the U.S. Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences The Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (BPAI) is a body of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), which decides issues of patentability. If an applicant for an invention cannot convince a patent examiner that they are entitled to their claims, then the ruled in its favor on the action (Patent Interference No. 103,474) it brought for determination of the ownership of the invention of the non-contact wafer temperature method widely known as the "Ripple Technique." The action resulted from Texas Instruments' claim of ownership of this method. The ripple technique is used in single-wafer processing, to measure both temperature and emissivity Emissivity The ratio of the radiation intensity of a nonblack body to the radiation intensity of a blackbody. This ratio, which is usually designated by the Greek letter ε, is always less than or just equal to one. of filmed wafers. It has been successfully applied in a number of single-wafer processing tools, including AG Associates' RTP (1) (Rapid Transport Protocol) The protocol used in IBM's High Performance Routing (HPR) system. (2) (Realtime Transport Protocol) An IP protocol that supports real time transmission of voice and video. tools. This in-situ pyrometric py·rom·e·ter n. Any of various thermometers used for measuring high temperatures. py  ro·met method
uses the background light flicker -- or ripple -- to carry out its
measurements.
"It is Luxtron's ongoing policy to protect our intellectual property," stated Bob Goodman, president and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Luxtron. "We are naturally gratified grat·i·fy tr.v. grat·i·fied, grat·i·fy·ing, grat·i·fies 1. To please or satisfy: His achievement gratified his father. See Synonyms at please. 2. by the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences' decision, and intend to actively continue this policy." Luxtron has so far been granted five ripple technique patents, (U.S. No. 5,154,512, October 13, 1992; U.S. No. 5,166,080, November 24, 1992; U.S. No. 5,310,260, May 10, 1994; U.S. No. 5,318,362, June 7, 1994; and U.S. No. 5,460,728, February 13, 1996). It soon expects to be granted a sixth one. Luxtron Corporation, founded in 1978 with headquarters and ISO (1) See ISO speed. (2) (International Organization for Standardization, Geneva, Switzerland, www.iso.ch) An organization that sets international standards, founded in 1946. The U.S. member body is ANSI. 9001-certified manufacturing facilities located in Santa Clara, Calif., develops, manufactures and markets unique sensors and instrumentation, based on optical and heat flow technologies, for a wide range of industrial, medical, semiconductor, and R&D applications. Luxtron is a wholly owned subsidiary Wholly Owned Subsidiary A subsidiary whose parent company owns 100% of its common stock. Notes: In other words, the parent company owns the company outright and there are no minority owners. of the Fairey Group. Luxtron has four product lines including: -- Luxtron brand fiberoptic temperature sensors and instruments using patented Fluoroptic(R) sensors, intrinsically safe and immune to EM interference (-200 C to +450 C). -- Accufiber brand sapphire/fiberoptic sensors and instruments used for non-contact wafer and furnace temperature measurements based on the Plank equation and light emission technology (+100 C to +4000 C). -- Xinix brand semiconductor and LCD panel process controllers using non-contacting optical sensors in plasma (dry) etch, wet etch, resist develop and CMP CMP (cytidine monophosphate): see cytosine. (1) (CMP Media LLC, Manhasset, NY, www.cmp.com) Part of United Business Media, CMP is a leading integrated media company that offers a wide variety of publications and services in the information processing equipment to determine precisely when a process or step is completed. -- Transmet brand non-contact temperature systems, applied to moving objects in industrial processes such as wire and optical fiber production (+10 C to +300 C). You can visit the Luxtron Web site at http://www.luxtron.com . CONTACT: Luxtron Corporation Bob Goodman, 408/727-1600 or The Benjamin Group Inc. Alex Braun, 408/559-6090 |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion