SiGen Receives Federal Circuit Court of Appeals Ruling Affirming Invalidity of Major Smart-Cut Patent Claims.Business Editors/High-Tech Writers SAN JOSE San Jose, city, United States San Jose (sănəzā`, săn hōzā`), city (1990 pop. 782,248), seat of Santa Clara co., W central Calif.; founded 1777, inc. 1850. , Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 1, 2003 In the patent litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. between Silicon Genesis Corporation (SiGen), a developer of unique silicon-on-insulator (SOI (Silicon On Insulator) A chip architecture that increases transistor switching speed by reducing capacitance (build-up of electrical charges in the transistor's elements), and thus reducing the discharge time. The power requirement is also reduced in some designs. ) wafer technology, and Soitec S.A. (Soitec), the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals on November 26, 2003 affirmed the verdict rendered by the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts on April 1, 2002. In that verdict, the judgment invalidated in·val·i·date tr.v. in·val·i·dat·ed, in·val·i·dat·ing, in·val·i·dates To make invalid; nullify. in·val 5 of 6 claims of Soitec's primary "Smart-Cut(TM)" patent, U.S. Patent Number 5,374,564 ('564 Patent). Based on the judgment entered after the trial, only claim 4 of the six '564 Patent claims asserted against SiGen remains valid. That claim only applied to a process that is no longer used by SiGen, and has never been used to manufacture production wafers. The judgment also states that SiGen's SOI processes do not infringe in·fringe v. in·fringed, in·fring·ing, in·fring·es v.tr. 1. To transgress or exceed the limits of; violate: infringe a contract; infringe a patent. 2. the only asserted claim of the patent that remains valid. Under the affirmed verdict, SiGen will pay damages based on SiGen's limited infringement during its research and development phase. Francois J. Henley, 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 Silicon Genesis, said, "We are extremely pleased that this appeal decision ensures that our commercial SOI processes can be practiced by both ourselves and our licensees without question. Because the major '564 Patent claims are now affirmed as invalid, Soitec lost a key part of its ability to license and claim ownership of its layer-transfer technology. This appeal decision further strengthens SiGen's ability to license its intellectual property." SiGen counsel, Morrison & Foerster attorney Bryan J. Wilson added, "The evidence at trial showed overwhelmingly that the key claims of Soitec's '564 patent are invalid. It was no surprise that the Court of Appeals rejected Soitec's numerous arguments to reverse this judgment. We are pleased that the verdict was upheld, and that SiGen will be able to continue to develop and license its innovative layer transfer processes." About Silicon Genesis Founded in 1997, Silicon Genesis Corporation (SiGen) is a leading provider of Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) process technology targeted for use in the production of engineered wafers that enable NanoTechnology applications With nanotechnology, a large set of materials and improved products rely on a change in the physical properties when the feature sizes are shrunk. Nanoparticles for example take advantage of their dramatically increased surface area to volume ratio. Their optical properties, e.g. with next generation products. Headquartered in San Jose, California San Jose (IPA: /ˌsænhoʊˈzeɪ/) is the third-largest city in California, and the tenth-largest in the United States. It is the county seat of Santa Clara County. (Silicon Valley), the Company's proprietary NanoCleave(TM) (Layer-transfer), NanoBond(TM) (Plasma-activated bonding), and NanoSmooth(TM)(Epi Smoothing/Epi Thickening thick·en·ing n. 1. The act or process of making or becoming thick. 2. Material used to thicken: stir in a thickening of flour and water. 3. A thickened part. ) process steps have allowed SiGen to become a leading provider of innovative substrates through its process licensing. SiGen promotes its layer-transfer and engineered wafer technologies by continued development of its advanced process and equipment technologies as well as through strategic alliances. For more information on Silicon Genesis, visit http://www.sigen.com. Smart-Cut(TM) is a registered trademark of Soitec S.A. NanoCleave(TM), NanoBond(TM), NanoSmooth(TM) are registered trademarks of Silicon Genesis Corporation |
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