September 29, 2004 – ASML and Nikon have finalized details of their patent settlement, announced in early September, regarding lithography equipment.
Under the terms, ASML will pay $87 million, with an initial payment of $60 million made in 2004 and the remainder paid off in yearly installments through 2007. Also, as part of the deal, Germany’s Carl Zeiss SMT, which provides optical lenses for ASML’s tools, will pay Nikon a total of $58 million, with $40 million up front and the rest paid under similar terms.
The deal will bump up Nikon’s group net profit for fiscal 2005 (ending March 2005) to 28.6 billion yen, up from 19 billion yen forecast in May, although group sales estimates remain unchanged at 700 billion yen. The companies will finalize settlement and cross-license agreements and dismiss all legal proceedings by next month.