Europe

02/01/1998

Europe

ASM International, Bilthoven, The Netherlands, has agreed to an $80 million settlement to end all patent litigation between it and Applied Materials. Under the agreement, ASM will license all patents related to its epitaxial and CVD technology included in its past lawsuits against Applied, which, in turn will license all of the patents included in its lawsuits against ASM. Applied will additionally license to ASM its TEOS-process patents, according to Russell Fairbanks, VP and general counsel for ASM America. The deal includes royalty payments for the licensed products to Applied, and a $15 million cash payment up front, with a $65 million interest-free convertible note issued to Applied. The note, with a potential conversion at $21, has a maturity of one year.

Metorex International Oy, Espoo, Finland, and Philips Analytical X-ray BV, Almelo, The Netherlands, have established a partnership to market a new line of bench-top x-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyzers. The partnership covers R&D, design, manufacturing, sales, and support.