VELDHOVEN, the Netherlands -- ASML Holding N.V. today announced it has filed a counter suit against Nikon Corp. for U.S. patent infringement in photolithography technology, and it is accusing the Japanese equipment rival of violating antitrust laws in patent case filed late last year.
ASML said it filed the counterclaim in federal court in North California, accusing Nikon of attempting to reduce competition and monopolize the U.S. lithography market. Nikon surprised ASML last December by filing a patent lawsuit and a request for an investigation by U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) against the Dutch company (see Dec. 21 story).
"Nikon is violating antitrust laws and violating ASML patents," said Doug Dunn, president and CEO of ASML in Veldhoven. "Nikon is working in its own interests to make the market unfriendly to competition."
ASML said it filed its response to Nikon's suit and a counterclaim on Friday (April 5). The Dutch lithography supplier denied infringing upon any of the five patents listed in Nikon's lawsuit. ASML also asserted that all five patent are invalid.
In addition, ASML said it has filed a counterclaim with the ITC, accusing Nikon of violating five of its U.S. patents. Pursuant to ITC rules, the counterclaim case against Nikon has been transferred to a U.S. District Court in Arizona, according to ASML.
In addition to fighting in U.S. court and before the ITC, both ASML and Nikon are locked in an intense competition for Intel Corp.'s 193-nm lithography business. Both suppliers are considered frontrunners, but in recent months sources have indicated that Intel has awarded initial orders to Nikon. Intel and the two lithography suppliers refuse to discuss the competition.
In the past six months, Intel has denied that it has ruled out any supplier of 193-nm scanners, and officials in Santa Clara, Calif., have indicated that the microprocessor giant would consider multiple vendors of those leading-edge exposure tools for production fabs.
Last month, Nikon Precision Inc. in Belmont, Calif., dropped strong hints that it was the supplier of all lithography tools used by Intel to produce fully-functional prototype ICs with 90-nm (0.09-micron) technology (see March 20 story).
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