FEI and Hitachi High-Technologies Settle Patent Dispute
Hitachi High-Technologies initially filed suit against FEI in Japan in 2009, alleging infringement of five patents and seeking a permanent injunction. FEI stated in an SEC filing that a June 2011 preliminary injunction related to one patent had no material effect because it was withdrawn due to the patent’s expiration.
Hillsboro, OR 8/20/12; Tokyo, Japan 8/21/12—Hitachi High-Technologies and FEI have settled their Japanese patent dispute related to focused ion beam technology for electron microscopes. Under the agreement, FEI will make a one-time payment of $15 million, Hitachi High-Technologies will dismiss its pending claims and the firms will cross license patents. Having previously recorded a $5.4 million charge related to the pending claims, FEI will record the remaining $9.6 million of the payment as prepaid royalties and amortized over a period estimated at seven years.
