A decision from the Opposition Division of European Patent Office
Oct 25, 2005
A patent infringement lawsuit filed by MEMC, a U.S. silicon wafer manufacturer, is still ongoing. SUMCO claims that the patent is invalid and not infringed and has the same position with respect to the patent's counterparts in other countries. SUMCO opposed MEMC's European counterpart patent EP 0 972 094 ("EP '094"). The grounds for SUMCO's opposition are that the European patent is invalid. An Oral Proceeding took place before the Opposition Division of the European Patent Office (EPO). The ruling from the Opposition Division is as follows:
- The granted claim 1, which was directed to a defect free silicon wafer, was found to be invalid for lack of novelty in view of the prior art.
- The Opposition Division accepted the patent only in amended form, wherein the patent now claims 200 mm or greater than 200 mm.
SUMCO's opinion regarding the above items is as follows:
- The meaning of this ruling is significant since the novelty, which is the most important requirement to patentability, was taken away. SUMCO believes that this ruling will give a great influence to the decision on the patentability of its counterpart patent in other countries.
- The Opposition Division decided to maintain MEMC's patent only in amended form. The sole reason why the Opposition Division upheld MEMC's patent in amended form resides in the enlargement of the nominal diameter. There are strong arguments against that point.
SUMCO will appeal the Opposition Division's ruling and it strongly believes that there is a solid basis to successfully obtain a favorable decision in the Appeal Proceedings.
In addition, it is noted that the Japanese Patent Office rejected the counterpart patent filed in Japan in July of this year.