After more than a decade of legal wrangling, Israeli inspection and metrology systems developer Camtek Ltd. (Nasdaq: CAMT; TASE:CAMT) has announced that it has reached a settlement with Rudolph Technologies Inc. on pending patent lawsuits.
Under the terms of the settlement, Camtek will pay Rudolph $13 million and each side will dismiss their claims against each other with prejudice. The settlement further gives Camtek a perpetual right to sell its existing products, the Condor, Gannet and Eagle, as well as future products, without any claim of patent infringement from any of the patent families that Camtek had been sued on. Camtek granted similar rights to Rudolph on Camtek's patent for Kerf inspection.
The parties agreed to a quiet period of three years, during which neither party may file any action seeking damages against the other party. Camtek will record the $13 million payment to Rudolph as a one-time expense in its second quarter 2017 GAAP results.
Camtek CEO Rafi Amit said, "Despite our confidence that our technologies do not infringe Rudolph's patents, after more than a decade of disputes with Rudolph, we have decided it is in our best interests to close this chapter and come to a final settlement. This settlement removes the significant management distraction and ongoing expenses, which we believe would have been well in excess of the settlement amount. Furthermore, following the recent sale of our PCB business, management can now significantly sharpen its focus on its Semiconductor activities in general, and specifically the advanced packaging segment."
Last month the Migdal Ha'Emek-based company sold its PCB business to Chinese fund Principle Capital for $35 million.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 2, 2017
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