Ann Arbor, MI - On October 1, 2015, in a nullity proceeding, the German Federal Patent Court (Bundespatentgericht) found the German patent 695 00 997.4 (the German Part of the European Patent 0 754 103) to be invalid. This patent is a German counterpart of the fundamental US patent (US Patent 5,656,186) filed in 1994, assigned to The Regents of the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor), and invented by a team at the University of Michigan's Center for Ultrafast Optical Science (CUOS). IMRA America is an Exclusive Licensee in non-biologic field of use of the Patent from the University of Michigan.
The basic U.S.186 patent has long been found to be valid in several US Patent Office Proceedings and is fundamental to the field of material processing with ultrafast lasers. The advanced technology disclosed in the patent relates to complex laser interaction with materials to achieve breakthrough performance in laser micromachining applications, resulting in extraordinary precision and material processing quality.
IMRA America has, for many years, taken all actions necessary to protect the patented technology as well as their own licensing rights and the rights of their licensees. IMRA strongly disagrees with the decision of the German Court and is considering their options to appeal the case.
For further questions, please contact Jason Alexander, business development at IMRA America, at (510) 364-5335 or [email protected].