Cognex Wins Appeal in Lemelson Lawsuit; Ruling Allows Cognex to Introduce the Doctrine of Prosecution Laches to Bar Enforcement of Lemelson Patents.Business/Technology Editors NATICK, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 31, 2002 Cognex Corporation Cognex Corporation is an American corporation that manufactures commercial machine vision systems. Cognex is the world leader in its field, holding an array of patents and employing academic experts. (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on : CGNX), the world's leading supplier of machine vision systems, announced today that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has ruled in Cognex's favor in an important appeal related to Cognex's lawsuit against the Lemelson Medical, Education & Research Foundation, Limited Partnership. The appeal ruling, issued on January 24, gives Cognex the right to raise the doctrine of patent prosecution Patent prosecution describes the interaction between an applicant, or their representative, and a patent office with regard to a patent, or an application for a patent. Broadly, patent prosecution can be split into pre-grant prosecution, which involves negotiation with a patent laches A defense to an equitable action, that bars recovery by the plaintiff because of the plaintiff's undue delay in seeking relief. Laches is a defense to a proceeding in which a plaintiff seeks equitable relief. as one of its defenses to the Lemelson Partnership's infringement claims. The doctrine of prosecution laches bars a patentee PATENTEE. He to whom a patent has been granted. The term is usually applied to one who has obtained letters-patent for a new invention. 2. His rights are, 1. from enforcing a patent claim when there was an unreasonable delay in seeking the claim from the Patent Office. Cognex is contending that Lemelson's unreasonable delays in the prosecution of certain machine vision patent claims--in many cases more than 30 years after his original 1954 and 1956 applications--constitute laches. If Cognex is successful in arguing the laches defense when its lawsuit against the Lemelson Partnership goes to trial, the court could hold the vast majority of the Lemelson patent claims unenforceable. The case is expected to go to trial in August of 2002. "We are very excited by the court's decision," said Dr. Robert J. Shillman, Cognex's President, 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. and Chairman. "Not only would a successful laches defense help Cognex's case against the Lemelson Partnership, but if the patents are found to be unenforceable, it will also have a significant, favorable impact on hundreds of other companies being sued by Lemelson." Cognex filed suit against the Lemelson Partnership in September of 1998, seeking a declaration that various patents that claim to cover machine vision, currently assigned to the Partnership by the late Jerome H. Lemelson Jerome "Jerry" Hal Lemelson (July 18, 1923 Staten Island, New York - October 1, 1997) was a prolific and controversial American inventor and patent holder. Biography Lemelson was born on Staten Island, New York, on July 18, 1923, the oldest of three brothers. , are invalid, unenforceable, and not infringed by either Cognex or by any users of Cognex products. Cognex Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, and markets machine vision systems, or computers that can "see." Cognex is the world's leader in the machine vision industry, having shipped more than 150,000 machine vision systems, representing over $1 billion in cumulative revenue, since the company's founding in 1981. Cognex's Modular Vision Systems Division, headquartered in Natick, Massachusetts Natick (Pronunciation IPA: /ˈneɪtɪk/) is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. Natick is located near the center of the MetroWest region of Massachusetts, with a population of 32,170 at the , specializes in machine vision systems which are used for automating the manufacture of a wide range of discrete items and for assuring their quality. Cognex's Surface Inspection Systems Division, headquartered in Alameda, California Alameda is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is located on a small island of the same name next to Oakland, California in the San Francisco Bay. An additional part of the city is Bay Farm Island, which is adjacent to the Oakland International Airport. , specializes in machine vision systems which are used for inspecting the surfaces of products manufactured in a continuous fashion, such as metals, paper, plastics, and nonwovens. In addition to its corporate headquarters in Natick, Massachusetts, Cognex also has regional offices located throughout North America, Japan, Europe, and Southeast Asia. Visit Cognex on-line at http://www.cognex.com. |
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