ASM International N.V. (Nasdaq: ASMI and Euronext Stock Exchange in Amsterdam: ASM), along with its subsidiary, ASM America, Inc., has reached an agreement with Genus, Inc. to settle the litigation pending between them.
Under the terms of the agreement, ASM has the right to immediately appeal the U.S. District Court's claim construction rulings on ASM's U.S. Patent Nos. 6,015,590 and 5,916,365, relating to atomic layer deposition ("the ALD patents"). Genus will pay $1 million to ASM if the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit vacates either of the lower court's rulings related to the ALD patents based on a change in the claim construction.
ASM and Genus have also granted each other full licenses to each of the patents involved in the litigation, including ASM's ALD patents and ASM's U.S. Patent No. 4,798,165 (the "showerhead patent") and Genus's U.S. Patent No. 5,294,568 entitled "Method of Selective Etching Native Oxide".
Genus and ASM have also agreed not to sue each other for patent infringement or antitrust violations for the next five years. Arthur del Prado, CEO of ASM International, said "We began this litigation to protect our intellectual property in atomic layer deposition and we have now reached the point where we need to move on to a higher court.
This settlement involves the non-exclusive, non-transferable licensing to Genus of the patents in dispute and will allow ASM to appeal the claims construction rulings which we feel are unduly interpreted.
We feel confident that the Court of Appeals will establish the value of our pioneering ALD patents."