Business briefs

11 Jul 2003

Including news from THALES, Nichia, Lambda Physik, Lumenis and more.

•  A Korean LED maker has admitted that it infringed designs held by rival LED manufacturer Nichia of Japan. Under the terms of the out-of-court settlement, the Korean company has agreed to suspend manufacturing, selling, marketing and exporting of the infringing products. It will also destroy all the infringing products left in its inventory. In a statement from Nichia, the company said it “would vigorously enforce its right against those who infringe our intellectual property in any country.”

•  Micro Lithograpy Inc, (MLI) is to supply fellow US company DuPont Photomasks with pellicles. DuPont plans to cease internal production of pellicles by September, a move that will result in the loss of 96 jobs accounting for 5% of the company’s workforce. A pellicle seals off a photomask and helps prevent particle contamination.

•  THALES has officially opened the 700 m² extension of its optics manufacturing facility in Kecskemet, Hungary. Established in 1997, the original 500 m² facility was built to make glass lenses for medical endoscopes. The company says the extra floor space will allow it to cope with increasing and varied business demands.

•  Lumenis, the Israeli medical laser maker, expects its net second quarter revenue to come in at USD 68 million. This compares to a net revenue of USD 93 million for the same quarter last year and leaves a shortfall of over USD 10 million on the company’s previous guidance of USD 80 to 85 million for the quarter.

•  Lambda Physik has announced preliminary third quarter sales of EURO 14 million (USD 15.8 million), down 39% from EURO 23.1 million in the previous quarter and down 34% from EURO 21.1 million year-on-year. For the first nine month’s of its 2003 fiscal year, the company also reported a drop in sales to EURO 61 million compared with EURO 72.2 million in the prior year period. The company added that incoming orders this quarter have halved compared with the same quarter last year.

•  Linos, the German maker of optical systems, has reported a revenue of EURO 16.7 million for the second quarter of 2003. This represents a 10% drop over the first quarter and means that Linos will have a negative EBIT [earnings before interest and tax] of about EURO 1 million for the quarter.

•  Actuality Systems has been granted key patents for its 3D visualization technology in both the US and Taiwan. The company says the patents specifically describe a rotating projection lens used in its Perspecta display globe.