Cognex Sues Matrox

„Lawsuit Claims Infringement of Machine Vision Patent\r\n
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\r\nNATICK, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–July 16, 2002–Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ: CGNX – News), the world’s leading supplier of machine vision systems, announced today that it has filed a complaint against Matrox Electronic Systems, Ltd., a Canada-based manufacturer of computer imaging hardware and software, and its distributor in Massachusetts. The complaint was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts in Boston.“;“Cognex is claiming that the Matrox Geometric Model Finder software, and possibly other components, shipped as part of the company’s Matrox Imaging Library (MIL), infringes claims of at least one Cognex patent. Cognex is seeking action by the court to stop Matrox from making and selling Geometric Model Finder or any other product which is found to infringe Cognex patents. Cognex is also seeking unspecified damages to compensate for the Matrox patent infringement.\r\n
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\r\n\“Over the years Cognex has been first to market with a broad range of innovative machine vision technologies, which have made significant contributions to industrial efficiency and product quality worldwide,\“ said Bill Silver, Cognex’s Chief Technology Officer. \“Unfortunately, the commercial success of our innovations has motivated some other machine vision vendors to emulate our technology. I have personally investigated the Matrox Geometric Model Finder and I believe that it infringes claims held by Cognex.\“\r\n
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\r\n\“Cognex welcomes competition, but not competition that encroaches upon Cognex’s intellectual property rights,\“ said Dr. Robert J. Shillman, Cognex’s President, CEO and Chairman. \“This lawsuit is about stopping our competitors from taking unfair advantage of the significant R & D investments made by Cognex.\“\r\n
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\r\nDr. Shillman continued, \“Cognex has 134 issued patents, and another 133 patents pending. We will assert our patent rights against any vision company that makes, uses or sells products that we believe infringe these patents, and we will also assert those rights against any user or manufacturer of equipment that incorporates such products.\“\r\n
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\r\nCognex Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, and markets machine vision systems, or computers that can \“see.\“ Cognex is the world’s leader in the machine vision industry, having shipped more than 150,000 machine vision systems, representing over $1 billion in cumulative revenue, since the company’s founding in 1981. Cognex’s Modular Vision Systems Division, headquartered in Natick, Massachusetts, specializes in machine vision systems which are used for automating the manufacture of a wide range of discrete items and for assuring their quality. Cognex’s Surface Inspection Systems Division, headquartered in Alameda, California, specializes in machine vision systems which are used for inspecting the surfaces of products manufactured in a continuous fashion, such as metals, paper, plastics, and nonwovens. In addition to its corporate headquarters in Natick, Massachusetts, Cognex also has regional offices located throughout North America, Japan, Europe, and Southeast Asia. Visit Cognex on-line at http://www.cognex.com.\r\n
\r\nsource: yahoo.com“;0;112;3;““;““;0;““;0;0;0;10;2