Business briefs

22 Aug 2003

Including news from GSI Lumonics, JDS Uniphase, Laser Technology, Special Optics and more.

•  GSI Lumonics is taking Electro Scientific Industries of Portland, Oregon to court over an alleged case of patent infringement. GSIL says that Electro Scientific is violating three of its US patents (US 6337462, 6181728 and 6573473). The patents relate to technology that is used in GSIL’s laser systems for processing semiconductor devices.

•  Jozef Straus, the chief executive officer of JDS Uniphase, the world’s largest supplier of optical components, will retire on September 1. His successor will be Kevin Kennedy, a veteran of Cisco Systems and Bell Labs who has been on JDSU’s board since October 2001. Syrus Madavi, JDSU’s president and chief operating officer, has also announced that he will be leaving the company.

•  Laser Technology, the Colorado-based designer of measuring systems that use pulsed lasers, has reported a 9% annual rise in sales for its third quarter. For the three months ended June 30, the firm achieved sales of USD 2.97 million versus USD 2.71 million for the same period in 2002. However, a 37% rise in operating expenses, largely due to legal costs from a patent infringement trial, resulted in a net loss for the third quarter of USD 418,138.

•  Special Optics, the New Jersey-based supplier of precision optical parts, has signed a licensing agreement with Metastable Instruments. The deal allows Special Optics to manufacture and market Metastable’s In-Line Beam Steerer, an optical alignment and beam manipulation system.

•  Terahertz Photonics, the Scottish optoelectronics start-up, has closed its doors, according to the Sunday Herald, a Scottish newspaper. When Optics.org rang to confirm the news it discovered that no staff were present at the Livingston premises.

•  Opto Speed, a Swiss manufacturer of laser diodes and high-speed detectors, has been forced to file for bankruptcy, according to reports. Nobody picked up the phone when Optics.org rang the company’s Zurich headquarters or its office in Darmstadt, Germany.

•  Ciena, the US maker of optical networking equipment, has reported a revenue of USD 68.5 million, for the three months ended July 31. The results represent a rise of 37% from the same period last year, but still not enough to create a profit. Net loss for the period was USD 88.9 million. At the same time as giving its latest financial results, Ciena announced that it is acquiring the Akara Corporation, a US specialist in storage area networks, for USD 45 million.