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Mühlbauer Patent confirmed by Singapore Court of Appeal |
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The Court of Appeal of Singapore Overturns Revocation of Mühlbauer AG's Patent and finds for infringement of Mühlbauer's Patent Singapore P-No. 117 982 (WO 2005/078768) by Manufacturing Integration Technology Ltd, Singapore. The Singapore Court of Appeal has agreed that Mühlbauer AG (“Mühlbauer“) has made out its case for infringement of Mühlbauer's Patent against Manufacturing Integration Technology Ltd ("MIT") in respect of MIT’s "CAERUS" device. The Singapore Court of Appeal also found Mühlbauer's patented invention to be both novel and non-obvious over the prior art. Accordingly, the Court of Appeal accorded protection to Mühlbauer's valuable contribution to the state of the art. The subject matter of the proceedings was in respect of patented modules and methods for inspecting, picking up and placing electronic components (dies) onto substrates or tape and reel packaging which are integrated in the latest Mühlbauer die sorter and flip chip equipment. These machines embody the inventive concept of the Mühlbauer patent which is to have a genuinely concurrent inspection of a die through a pivoting part having two pickup heads. This concept is well-known in the industry as “double flipper”. The MIT "CAERUS" device infringed all ten claims of Mühlbauer's Patent as acknowledged by MIT during the trial in the Singapore High Court.
The Singapore Court of Appeal, after having thoroughly considered the merits of the case and all arguments exchanged between Mühlbauer and MIT, decided that Mühlbauer's patent is valid. The Court of Appeal also granted Mühlbauer a certificate of contested validity in respect of Mühlbauer's Patent in Singapore. Further, the Court of Appeal found that Mühlbauer did not make any groundless threats of patent infringe ment proceedings against MIT.
Thomas Betz, board member of Mühlbauer: “We at Mühlbauer are very happy about this positive court decision for Mühlbauer and its valued customers. The underlying technology can be considered as a well-protected asset in Mühlbauer’s flip chip technology portfolio. It provides our customers significant advantages in their production floors. Mühlbauer is committed to defend its IP worldwide and to further invest into the continuous performance increase of its flip chip systems based on this innovative and unique die handling and inspection concept”.
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