U.S. Court Suspends Axcelis Lawsuit Against Applied Materials
Applied Materials Inc. (Santa Clara, CA) reported that the US District Court in Boston, MA, denied the request of Axcelis Inc. (Beverly, MA) to immediately begin discovery in its recently filed case of patent infringement against Applied Materials' Swift ion-implantation system.The US District Court noted that questions concerning the validity and scope of Axcelis' patent are still pending before the US Patent Office, which has been reexamining the patent since early 1999. The Court ruled that this reexamination must be resolved before Axcelis' claims against Applied Materials can proceed. Thus, the Court stayed the lawsuit until the Patent Office makes its final determination. The Court and the parties agreed that after the Patent Office's reexamination of Axcelis' patent has concluded, the case would proceed expeditiously.If the Axcelis patent survives the Patent Office's reexamination, Applied Materials stated its intention to promptly seek summary relief against Axcelis' baseless infringement claims.
