Camtek Wins Appeal of the Decision in Rudolph Patent Infringement Case

Camtek Ltd. CAMT reported today that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which hears all patent appeals from U.S. federal courts nationwide, issued an opinion yesterday vacating the adverse judgment against Camtek in a patent infringement case brought against it by August Technology Corp. (now Rudolph Technologies, Inc.) in the Federal District Court for the District of Minnesota. The appellate decision comes six years after August sued Camtek for infringement of its patent (No. 6,826,298) on high-speed semiconductor wafer inspection technology. The District Court, following a jury decision, had entered a judgment of infringement, a permanent injunction against Camtek and an award of $8.7 million in damages plus interest. The Federal Circuit found that the District Court erred in the construction of a key claim term and vacated the finding of infringement, the damages award and the permanent injunction. The Court of Appeals remanded the case to the District Court for a limited trial based on the corrected claim construction, which significantly narrows the scope of August's patent.