Korean Supreme Court Reverses Korean Patent Court Ruling That Upheld Validity of FormFactor Patent
June 26 2008 - 9:00AM
Marketwired
LIVERMORE, CA announced the Korea Supreme Court issued an oral
ruling finding that 12 claims of FormFactor's Korean Patent
No.252457 are invalid, and remanding the case back to the Korean
Patent Court for further proceedings consistent with the ruling.
The decision does not specifically address the remaining 48 claims
of Patent No. 252457, or FormFactor's infringement claims against
Phicom Corporation. Following normal practice, the bases for the
ruling were not given and a written opinion explaining the ruling
will typically be expected in one to three weeks.
"Once we receive the Korea Supreme Court's written decision on
our Korea Patent No. 252457, we will consider the scope of any
resumed Patent Court validity proceedings and evaluate the impact
of the decision on our remaining Korea infringement actions," said
Stuart Merkadeau, FormFactor's senior vice president, general
counsel. "As a technology company that makes significant
investments in innovation, it is important that we continue to take
steps to protect our intellectual property. We believe this latest
decision from the Korean courts will not materially impact our
pending action before the U.S. International Trade Commission,
which is a part of our global strategy to protect our intellectual
property against unauthorized use."
FormFactor's advanced wafer probe card products and solutions
are relied upon by its customers to reduce their overall cost of
test and enable their technology roadmaps. The company believes the
announced ruling will have no immediate business impact.
FormFactor's Korea Patent No. 252457 was issued by the Korean
Intellectual Property Office, KIPO, in 2000. In 2004, the
Intellectual Property Tribunal Panel at KIPO upheld the patent
against Phicom's challenge, and in 2006, the Korea Patent Court
re-confirmed the validity of the patent by dismissing Phicom's
appeal of the IPT panel decision. It was after these earlier
reviews of Korea Patent No. 252457 that the Korea Supreme Court
found issues with the patent claims and directed the Patent Court
to revisit patent validity. FormFactor's infringement claims in
Korea against Phicom, which were filed February 24, 2004 with the
Seoul Southern District Court (Patent Nos. 278342, 399210) and in
August 8, 2006 with the Seoul Central District Court (Patent No.
252457), are still pending. In 2007, the Korea Supreme Court issued
a decision holding invalid certain claims from FormFactor's Korea
Patent Nos. 278342 and 399210, and a 2008 Korea Supreme Court
decision held invalid certain claims of the company's Korea Patent
No. 324064. The Korea Supreme Court decisions have addressed the
validity of some, but not all, of the Korea patent claims
FormFactor is asserting against Phicom. FormFactor has appealed a
2008 decision of the Seoul Southern District Court which found
certain claims of FormFactor's Korea Patent No. 252457 and 324064
either invalid or not infringed.
About FormFactor:
Founded in 1993, FormFactor, Inc. (NASDAQ: FORM) is the leader
in advanced wafer probe cards, which are used by semiconductor
manufacturers to electrically test integrated circuits, or ICs. The
company's wafer sort, burn-in and device performance testing
products move IC testing upstream from post-packaging to the wafer
level, enabling semiconductor manufacturers to lower their overall
production costs, improve yields, and bring next-generation devices
to market. FormFactor is headquartered in Livermore, California
with operations in Europe, Asia and North America. For more
information, visit the company's web site at
www.formfactor.com.
FormFactor is a registered trademark of FormFactor, Inc. All
other product, trademark, company or service names mentioned herein
are the property of their respective owners.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this press release that are not strictly
historical in nature are forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the federal securities laws, including statements
regarding business momentum, demand for our products and solutions
and future growth. These forward-looking statements are based on
current information and expectations that are inherently subject to
change and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual
events or results might differ materially from those in any
forward-looking statement due to various factors, including, but
not limited to: the company's ability to defend its intellectual
property rights in Korea and elsewhere in the world, the impact of
rulings in Korea on other pending litigation, including the
proceedings before the U.S. International Trade Commission, the
company's ability to develop customized products that meet its
customers' ever-evolving test requirements and to continue to
timely manufacture and deliver the next generation of testing
technology to help enable semiconductor manufacturers to lower
their test costs. Additional information concerning factors that
could cause actual events or results to differ materially from
those in any forward-looking statement is contained in the
company's Form 10-K for the year ended December 29, 2007, and the
company's Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended March 29, 2008,
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), and
subsequent SEC filings. Copies of the company's SEC filings are
available at http://investors.formfactor.com/edgar.cfm. The company
assumes no obligation to update the information in this press
release, to revise any forward-looking statements or to update the
reasons actual results could differ materially from those
anticipated in forward-looking statements.
Contacts: Investor Contact: Michael Magaro Investor Relations
(925) 290-4949 Email Contact Trade Press Contact: David Viera
Corporate Communications (925) 290-4681 Email Contact
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