Nov 25 2009
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.