CAMTEK REACHES FINAL SETTLEMENT WITH RUDOLPH TECHNOLOGIES
Camtek to pay $13 million; All lawsuits between Rudolph and Camtek will be withdrawn
MIGDAL HAEMEK, Israel – July 31, 2017– Camtek Ltd. (NASDAQ: CAMT and TASE: CAMT), today announced that it has reached a settlement with Rudolph Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: RTEC) relating to pending patent lawsuits that Rudolph filed against Camtek and that Camtek filed against Rudolph. According to the settlement, Camtek will pay Rudolph the sum of $13 million and each side will dismiss their claims against each other with prejudice. The settlement further gives Camtek a perpetual right to sell its existing products, the Condor, Gannet and Eagle, as well as future products, without any claim of patent infringement from any of the patent families that Camtek had been sued on. Camtek granted similar rights to Rudolph on Camtek's patent for Kerf inspection.
In addition, the parties agreed to a quiet period of three years, during which neither party may file any action seeking damages against the other party. Camtek will record the payment to Rudolph as a one-time expense in its second quarter 2017 GAAP results.
Rafi Amit, Camtek’s CEO, commented, “Despite our confidence that our technologies do not infringe Rudolph’s patents, after more than a decade of disputes with Rudolph, we have decided it is in our best interests to close this chapter and come to a final settlement. This settlement removes the significant management distraction and ongoing expenses, which we believe would have been well in excess of the settlement amount. Furthermore, following the recent sale of our PCB business, management can now significantly sharpen its focus on its Semiconductor activities in general, and specifically the advanced packaging segment.”
ABOUT CAMTEK LTD.
Camtek Ltd. provides automated and technologically advanced solutions dedicated to enhancing production processes, increasing products yield and reliability, enabling and supporting customer’s latest technologies in the Semiconductors, Printed Circuit Boards (PCB) and IC Substrates industries.
Camtek addresses the specific needs of these interconnected industries with dedicated solutions based on a wide and advanced platform of technologies including intelligent imaging, image processing and functional 3D inkjet printing.