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Korean Supreme Court Reverses Korean Patent Court Ruling That Upheld Validity of FormFactor Patent
Oral Ruling Returns the Proceedings to the Korean Patent Court With Instructions to Revisit the Prior Decision Holding the Claims of FormFactor's Korea Patent No. 252457 Valid
| Source: FormFactor
LIVERMORE, CA--(Marketwire - June 26, 2008) - FormFactor, Inc. (NASDAQ : FORM ) announced the
Korea Supreme Court issued an oral ruling finding that 12 claims of
FormFactor's Korean Patent No.252457 are invalid, and remanding the case
back to the Korean Patent Court for further proceedings consistent with the
ruling. The decision does not specifically address the remaining 48 claims
of Patent No. 252457, or FormFactor's infringement claims against Phicom
Corporation. Following normal practice, the bases for the ruling were not
given and a written opinion explaining the ruling will typically be
expected in one to three weeks.
"Once we receive the Korea Supreme Court's written decision on our Korea
Patent No. 252457, we will consider the scope of any resumed Patent Court
validity proceedings and evaluate the impact of the decision on our
remaining Korea infringement actions," said Stuart Merkadeau, FormFactor's
senior vice president, general counsel. "As a technology company that
makes significant investments in innovation, it is important that we
continue to take steps to protect our intellectual property. We believe
this latest decision from the Korean courts will not materially impact our
pending action before the U.S. International Trade Commission, which is a
part of our global strategy to protect our intellectual property against
unauthorized use."
FormFactor's advanced wafer probe card products and solutions are relied
upon by its customers to reduce their overall cost of test and enable their
technology roadmaps. The company believes the announced ruling will have
no immediate business impact.
FormFactor's Korea Patent No. 252457 was issued by the Korean Intellectual
Property Office, KIPO, in 2000. In 2004, the Intellectual Property
Tribunal Panel at KIPO upheld the patent against Phicom's challenge, and in
2006, the Korea Patent Court re-confirmed the validity of the patent by
dismissing Phicom's appeal of the IPT panel decision. It was after these
earlier reviews of Korea Patent No. 252457 that the Korea Supreme Court
found issues with the patent claims and directed the Patent Court to
revisit patent validity. FormFactor's infringement claims in Korea against
Phicom, which were filed February 24, 2004 with the Seoul Southern District
Court (Patent Nos. 278342, 399210) and in August 8, 2006 with the Seoul
Central District Court (Patent No. 252457), are still pending. In 2007,
the Korea Supreme Court issued a decision holding invalid certain claims
from FormFactor's Korea Patent Nos. 278342 and 399210, and a 2008 Korea
Supreme Court decision held invalid certain claims of the company's Korea
Patent No. 324064. The Korea Supreme Court decisions have addressed the
validity of some, but not all, of the Korea patent claims FormFactor is
asserting against Phicom. FormFactor has appealed a 2008 decision of the
Seoul Southern District Court which found certain claims of FormFactor's
Korea Patent No. 252457 and 324064 either invalid or not infringed.
About FormFactor:
Founded in 1993, FormFactor, Inc. (NASDAQ : FORM ) is the leader in advanced
wafer probe cards, which are used by semiconductor manufacturers to
electrically test integrated circuits, or ICs. The company's wafer sort,
burn-in and device performance testing products move IC testing upstream
from post-packaging to the wafer level, enabling semiconductor
manufacturers to lower their overall production costs, improve yields, and
bring next-generation devices to market. FormFactor is headquartered in
Livermore, California with operations in Europe, Asia and North America.
For more information, visit the company's web site at www.formfactor.com.
FormFactor is a registered trademark of FormFactor, Inc. All other
product, trademark, company or service names mentioned herein are the
property of their respective owners.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this press release that are not strictly historical in nature
are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities
laws, including statements regarding business momentum, demand for our
products and solutions and future growth. These forward-looking statements
are based on current information and expectations that are inherently
subject to change and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual
events or results might differ materially from those in any forward-looking
statement due to various factors, including, but not limited to: the
company's ability to defend its intellectual property rights in Korea and
elsewhere in the world, the impact of rulings in Korea on other pending
litigation, including the proceedings before the U.S. International Trade
Commission, the company's ability to develop customized products that meet
its customers' ever-evolving test requirements and to continue to timely
manufacture and deliver the next generation of testing technology to help
enable semiconductor manufacturers to lower their test costs. Additional
information concerning factors that could cause actual events or results to
differ materially from those in any forward-looking statement is contained
in the company's Form 10-K for the year ended December 29, 2007, and the
company's Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended March 29, 2008, filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), and subsequent SEC
filings. Copies of the company's SEC filings are available at
http://investors.formfactor.com/edgar.cfm. The company assumes no
obligation to update the information in this press release, to revise any
forward-looking statements or to update the reasons actual results could
differ materially from those anticipated in forward-looking statements.