Cabot Microelectronics
Corporation (Nasdaq: CCMP), the world's leading supplier of chemical
mechanical planarization (CMP) polishing slurries and growing CMP pad supplier
to the semiconductor industry, reported today that, as anticipated in its press
release of November 20, the United States District Court for the District of
Arizona unsealed in redacted form its ruling on summary judgment motions ("Summary
Judgment Order"), pending in Cabot Microelectronics' ongoing patent
infringement litigation against DuPont Air Products NanoMaterials, LLC ("DuPont
Air Products NanoMaterials").
Cabot Microelectronics believes that the recently issued Summary Judgment Order,
which is accessible below, supports Cabot Microelectronics' position on
the merits of the case. In the Summary Judgment Order, the Court rejected DuPont
Air Products NanoMaterials' primary validity attack on Cabot Microelectronics'
tungsten CMP patents at issue in the case, holding that DuPont Air Products
NanoMaterials' arguments with respect to one of the patents "does not invalidate
[Cabot Microelectronics'] patent" and with respect to another "is
insufficient as a matter of law." The Court also recognized that there
is only one significant question of fact left to decide on the issue of DuPont
Air Products NanoMaterials' infringement of Cabot Microelectronics' CMP tungsten
patents: whether DuPont Air Products NanoMaterials' accused CMP3600 and CMP3700
products employ a catalyst having "multiple oxidation states". The
Court took note of DuPont Air Products NanoMaterials' own U.S. patent applications
in which "it appears that DAPN [(DuPont Air Products NanoMaterials)] admitted
to the patent office that its catalyst has multiple oxidative states,"
contrary to its assertions. Furthermore, the Court expressed its "serious
misgivings about DAPN's [(DuPont Air Products NanoMaterials')] evidence".
Additionally, the Court today also allowed Cabot Microelectronics to obtain
additional damages and certain other discovery, and in light of this also extended
from December 16, 2009 to January 15, 2010 the date by which the parties are
to submit pretrial filings.
The Court's redacted Summary Judgment Order and related document are
accessible by clicking on the links below:
Summary
Judgment Order (redacted)(November 16, 2009)
Press
Release entitled "Cabot Microelectronics Corporation Receives Ruling on
Pending Summary Judgment Motions in Patent Infringement Enforcement Action against
DuPont Air Products NanoMaterials, LLC" (November 20, 2009)
Cabot Microelectronics Corporation, headquartered in Aurora, Illinois, is
the world's leading supplier of CMP polishing slurries and growing CMP pad supplier
to the semiconductor industry. The company's products play a critical role in
the production of the most advanced semiconductor devices, enabling the manufacture
of smaller, faster and more complex devices by its customers. The company's
mission is to create value by developing reliable and innovative solutions,
through close customer collaboration, that solve today's challenges and
help enable tomorrow's technology. Since becoming an independent public
company in 2000, the company has grown to approximately 900 employees on a global
basis.
Posted November 25th, 2009
