Ruling Issued in Rudolph's Patent Infringement Case against Camtek

On Monday, August 22, 2011, the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling in Rudolph Technologies' (NASDAQ: RTEC) long-running patent infringement case against Camtek, Ltd. in the Federal District Court for the District of Minnesota. In its opinion, the Appellate Court affirmed multiple rulings from trial at the District Court level including finding Rudolph's U.S. Patent No. 6,826,298 valid, the part of the infringement ruling based on the finding that Camtek's Falcon product strobes “based on velocity,” and the dismissal of Camtek's claim against Rudolph for inequitable conduct against the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

The court did, however, revise one claim construction ruling made by the District Court in the original case and remanded it back to the trial court. Robert Koch, Rudolph's vice president and general counsel, stated “While we are disappointed that the court did not affirm all aspects of our verdict against Camtek, we are very pleased to note that the court determined that our patent is valid and that the remaining issue before the District Court is one about which we feel very confident.”