Business briefs

25 Jul 2003

Including news from DALSA, Honeywell, Toshiba, Corning and more.

•  Micronic Laser Systems of Sweden and ASML of the Netherlands are forming a joint company to develop optical maskless lithography systems for the semiconductor manufacturing market. The new venture will integrate AMSL’s existing knowledge of lithography systems with Micronic’s mask pattern generator technology.

•  Canadian imaging giant DALSA has received a C$1.5 million (USD 1.08 million) order for its high-performance digital cameras. DALSA says a maker of capital equipment for the semiconductor manufacturing industry placed the order. The cameras, which will be delivered this year, will be used to inspect wafers during production.

•  Honeywell, US, has granted Toshiba, Japan, a license to use certain patented Honeywell LCD technologies. Specifically, the license enables Toshiba to use two Honeywell patents relating to liquid-crystal display drivers found in products such as notebook computers. The patented technologies are said to reduce screen flicker as well as drive the gray scale of the pixels.

•  PCO, a Germany-based maker of scientific cameras, has acquired the Cooke Corporation, a US maker of high-speed imaging systems for an undisclosed sum. “We are extremely pleased to combine our engineering competance and technology with the Cooke Corporation’s position in North America,” said PCO’s president Emil Ott.

•  Corning’s board of directors has approved the first of three phases in its USD 180 million plan to expand its LCD glass manufacturing facility in Taiwan. The company expects the expansion to be completed by the end of 2004, with initial production starting in quarter two of 2004. The investment will more than double the plant’s capacity for melting, forming and finishing generation 5 glass substrates.

•  Lumenis has announced that a US District Court has granted a preliminary injunction against Syneron Medical Ltd and Syneron Inc regarding Syneron’s Aurora devices when used with gel. “We are pleased by this positive ruling at such an early stage in the litigation,” said Lumenis’ chief executive officer Avner Raz. “Lumenis will continue to enforce its intellectual property rights.”

•  GSI Lumonics has signed a distribution agreement with Kestronics of Singapore. Effective immediately, Kestronics becomes the exclusive distributor for GSI’s semiconductor and electronics products across Asia Pacific. Exceptions are Japan, Korea and Taiwan where GSI will maintain direct sales and support.