Nova Measuring Instruments Announces Auction of Right to License or Acquire Some of its Patents
September 06 2006 - 9:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
Pioneering Approach to Monetizing Intellectual Property Assets
Starts With Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Industry
SUNNYVALE, California and REHOVOTH, Israel, September 6
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Nova Measuring Instruments, Ltd.
(NASDAQ:NVMI), the market leader in integrated metrology and
process control for the semiconductor industry, today announced
that it has invited approximately 100 companies, including numerous
Fortune 500 companies, to submit bids to license some of its
patents. These patents have substantial value because the industry
is on the threshold of widespread adoption of integrated metrology
and the methods covered by the patents are critical for advanced
manufacturing of semiconductors. Nova is pioneering the use of an
auction model to set a market price for patent licenses by offering
to the highest bidder licenses for six of its patents pertaining to
the use of a lithography tool with integrated metrology in
semiconductor processing lines. Participants in the auction also
have the option to bid for full ownership of the patents, which
represent only a small portion of Nova's extensive patent
portfolio. "We believe this auction will allow us to capitalize on
favorable industry trends and unlock the true value of our
intellectual property assets," said Gabi Seligsohn, President and
CEO of Nova. "We also believe this auction can help us avoid
protracted and expensive litigation of potential infringements in
the future by establishing the value of these assets and monetizing
them through an efficient, market-driven process." The auction will
provide a broad array of semiconductor-related companies with the
opportunity to bid for rights to protect their internal uses of the
relevant technology, improve their marketing position by covering
the activities of their customers, or enhance the value of their
existing patent portfolios. Potential bidders include leading edge
integrated circuit manufacturers, semiconductor equipment
manufacturers, metrology companies and technology companies that
have broad intellectual property portfolios. Nova has retained the
law firm of Hoffman & Zur, specialists in commercializing
patent rights, to develop its auction strategy and handle the
process on behalf of the company. A full list of the companies that
have been invited to participate in the auction is available on the
Hoffman & Zur website at http://www.valuablepatents.com/. "We
are convinced that this auction will attract substantial interest
and serve as a model for the future," said Eran Zur, a Hoffman
& Zur partner. "By allowing the market rather than the courts
to value patents, intellectual property worth many millions of
dollars can be monetized in a more efficient, less contentious
manner - clearly a benefit to the industry." The auction covers two
groups of patents: - Integrated Metrology group - which consists of
four patents that generally relate to a lithography track with an
integrated optical measurement capability that can be used for
various types of metrology applications including overlay
registration, critical dimensions, and macro defect inspection. -
Advanced Process Control group - which consists of two patents
related to methods for photolithographic processing involving
making a spectrophotometric measurement and using it to influence
the processing time, focus or exposure of a processing tool. Bids
for the following will be accepted no later than January 15, 2007:
- a license for a particular model of semiconductor processing
equipment, including customer rights to use - a license for
practice of the patents at a particular semiconductor fabrication
facility or set of facilities - complete acquisition of the patents
(or one of the two groups) Nova may select one or more offers or
refuse all bids. Successful bidders will be notified on or before
February 15, 2007. About Nova Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd.
develops, designs and produces integrated process control systems
in the semiconductor manufacturing industry. Nova provides a broad
range of integrated process control solutions that link between
different semiconductor processes and process equipment. The
Company's website is http://www.nova.co.il/. This press release
contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of safe
harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995 relating to future events or our future performance, such
as statements regarding our ability to avoid protracted and
expensive litigation in the future and the level of interest the
auction may attract. Forward-looking statements involve known and
unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our
actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to
be materially different from any future results, levels of
activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied in those
forward-looking statements. These risks and other factors include
but are not limited to: unforeseen conditions which could prevent
the successful completion of the proposed auction or successful
implementation of our strategy regarding our intellectual property
assets , changes in customer demands for our products, changes in
the semiconductor industry, new product offerings from our
competitors, changes in or an inability to execute our business
strategy, unanticipated manufacturing or supply problems, changes
in tax requirements and changes in customer demand for our
products. We cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity,
performance or achievements, including without limitation our
ability to avoid or reduce potential infringement litigation in the
future. The matters discussed in this press release also involve
risks and uncertainties summarized under the heading 'Risk Factors'
in Nova's Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December
31, 2005 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on June
29, 2006. These factors are updated from time to time through the
filing of reports and registration statements with the Securities
and Exchange Commission. Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd. does not
assume any obligation to update the forward-looking information
contained in this press release. Company Contact: Media Contact
Gabi Seligsohn United States President and CEO Judith Sylk-Siegel
Tel for US callers: +1-888-760-9522 Tel: +1-212-751-9266 Tel for
outside US callers: +972-52-345-9522 E-mail: E-mail:
http://www.nova.co.il/ Israel Ehud Helft / Kenny Green GK Investor
Relations Tel: +972-3-607-4717 E-mail: / DATASOURCE: Nova Measuring
Instruments Ltd CONTACT: Company Contact: Gabi Seligsohn, President
and CEO, Tel for US callers: +1-888-760-9522, Tel for outside US
callers: +972-52-345-9522, E-mail: , http://www.nova.co.il/; Media
Contact, United States, Judith Sylk-Siegel, Tel: +1-212-751-9266,
E-mail: ; Israel, Ehud Helft / Kenny Green, GK Investor Relations,
Tel: +972-3-607-4717, E-mail: /
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