Flanders, N.J., September 30, 2003 - Rudolph Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: RTEC) today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, ISOA, Inc. has filed in the Dallas, Texas District Courts a counterclaim in response to a lawsuit filed on Tuesday, September 23, 2003 against the companies by August Technology Corporation (Nasdaq: AUGT) related to a commercial dispute between the companies. The dispute arises from a December 24, 1997 Development Agreement between ISOA, Inc., which was acquired by Rudolph in September of 2002, and STI, Inc., a company acquired by August in April of 2003.
Under the Agreement, ISOA agreed to provide to STI certain engineering resources in the development of software for STI's semiconductor metrology systems. In return, STI agreed to pay to ISOA a minimum royalty of $1M of which approximately 1/3rd was paid. Rudolph has and continues to maintain that ISOA fulfilled its obligations under the Agreement and all amounts as agreed to under the Agreement are owed, while August's view is that ISOA did not perform substantially in order to justify any additional payments. Rudolph believes that intellectual property delivered by ISOA under the terms of the Agreement has been and continues to be used in current systems on the market from August. Rudolph is suing to receive full payment of the minimum royalty, ongoing royalty payments for any August macro defection inspection tools using Rudolph property, damages, costs, and attorneys' fees.
"Rudolph is shocked and disappointed by the action taken by August. It was our hope and belief that the companies could resolve this matter without the need for litigation. In our many discussions up to and including the day the suit was filed, senior August executives had assured us that they wanted to resolve this matter without litigation," said Robert A. Koch, Vice President and General Counsel. "With August's decision to file suit, Rudolph has no choice but to take any and all actions necessary to protect our intellectual property and recover the monies rightfully owed to us."
About Rudolph Technologies, Inc.
Rudolph Technologies is a worldwide leader in the design, development, manufacture and support of high-performance process control metrology systems used by semiconductor device manufacturers. The Company provides a full-fab solution through its families of proprietary systems for metrology applications used throughout the device manufacturing process. Rudolph's product development has successfully anticipated and addressed many emerging trends that are driving the semiconductor industry's growth. The Company's success in creating complementary metrology applications through aggressive research and development is key to Rudolph's strategy for continued technological and market leadership.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those projected due to a number of risks, including, but not limited to, the impact of the slowdown in the overall economy, the uncertainty of the current global political environment, the potential for terrorist attacks, the potential for business disruptions due to infectious diseases, changes in customer demands for our existing and new products, the timing, cancellation or delay of customer orders and shipments, the timing of revenue recognition of shipments, new product offerings from our competitors, changes in or an inability to execute Rudolph Technologies' business strategy, unanticipated manufacturing or supply problems and changes in tax rules. Rudolph Technologies cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. The matters discussed in this press release also involve risks and uncertainties summarized under the heading "Risk Factors" in Rudolph Technologies' Form 10K filed for the year ended December 31, 2002. These factors are updated from time to time through the filing of reports and registration statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Rudolph Technologies does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking information contained in this press release. As with any litigation, there are risks. Rudolph may incur significant legal fees and expenses in defending this action and pursuing the monies believed to be owed. In addition, there can be no assurance that the company will prevail in such litigation and we may suffer an adverse result requiring the repayment of the amounts previously paid to the company.