After nearly two years of legal battle, Nikon, ASML and Carl Zeiss signed a Memorandum of Understanding that will settle all litigation over lithographic and digital camera patents.
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The legal battle between Nikon, ASML and Carl Zeiss began back in 2017, after Nikon accused the companies of using patented immersion lithography technology without permission or licenses. Nikon sued, but soon after, Zeiss and ASML responded with counterclaims. As a result of the trial, the court ruled in favor of Zeiss and ASML, requiring Nikon to pay the latter about 475,000 euros.
Nikon has appealed the decision, saying it will continue to defend its intellectual property rights in all legal cases brought against ASML and Carl Zeiss SMT GmbH in the Netherlands, Germany and Japan.
And now, after about six months, the three companies have decided to come to an amicable agreement. According to Nikon’s press release, all disputed points are expected to be finalized in February 2019. The terms of the agreement order ASML and Zeiss to pay a total of 150 million euros in favor of Nikon. In addition, the agreement provides for reciprocal license fees of 0.8% for the sale of immersion lithography systems for 10 years from the date of signing of the final agreement between the parties.
