ICOS Vision Systems Awarded a $1.1 Million R&D Grant for Advanced Research

„ICOS Vision Systems Awarded a $1.1 Million R&D Grant for Advanced Research in Next Generation 3D Inspection\r\n
\r\nHEVERLEE, Belgium–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Dec. 19, 2002–ICOS Vision Systems Corporation N.V. (Nasdaq and Nasdaq Europe: IVIS), a world leader in vision solutions, today announced that it has been awarded a grant of $1.1 million from IWT (Instituut voor de Aanmoediging van Innovatie door Wetenschap en Technologie in Vlaanderen), a regional public institute for stimulating innovation by science and technology in Flanders.“;“IWT awarded ICOS the grant for advanced R&D activities in connection with the development of the next generation 3D inspection technology for which the company has already filed a patent application. IWT evaluates projects on both their technical merits and their commercial opportunities. The grant is the largest R&D grant that ICOS has received in its history and is expected to be paid in several parts throughout 2003 and 2004.\r\n
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\r\nAnton DeProft, president and chief executive officer of ICOS, commented, \“Regardless of conditions in the semiconductor industry, preserving our technology leadership and investing in new product development remain key priorities for ICOS. As a result, even in a downturn, we continue to create new market opportunities for the company with the introduction of new products such as the CI-G10. The IWT grant will allow us to further expand our technological capabilities for the next generation of products, while keeping our R&D cost under control.\“ \r\n
\r\nICOS is a leading worldwide developer and supplier of machine vision and inspection solutions primarily for use in the back-end semiconductor manufacturing and electronic assembly industries. The Company’s two- and three-dimensional inspection products are used worldwide to inspect integrated circuits at various stages of their manufacturing process and to align electronic components and printed circuit boards. The Company has three product lines: board-level products to be integrated in die-bonding equipment and in pick-and-place machines, system-level products for integration in test handlers, molding equipment, trim-and-form equipment, marking systems, tape-and-reel equipment and other applications and stand-alone inspection machines. ICOS‘ headquarters are located in Heverlee, Belgium and it has R&D centers in Belgium, Germany and Hong Kong and sales and support offices in Japan, the USA, Singapore and Hong Kong.\r\n
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\r\nCertain matters discussed in this press release are forward-looking statements including statements about ICOS‘ plans, objectives, expectations and intentions. Such statements include, without limitation, statements regarding the installments to be received under the grant, and the Company’s product development plans and expectations. These statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or anticipated. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, uncertainties inherent in the development of new products and the enhancement of existing products, including technical and regulatory risks, cost overruns and delays, the risk that newly introduced products may contain undetected errors or defects or otherwise not perform as anticipated, the Company’s ability to predict accurately the demand for its products and to develop strategies to address its markets successfully, risks relating to intellectual property, risks relating to technological change, the introduction of new products by the Company’s competitors, and the inherent uncertainty of law suits alleging patent infringement that have been filed against the Company, as well as risks relating to the Company’s dependence on the cyclical semiconductor and electronic assembly industries, risks relating to the conduct of the business world-wide and other risks referred to in our most recent annual report on form 20-F and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any such statements to reflect any change in the Company’s expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based. Further discussion of risk factors is also available in the Company’s SEC filings.\r\n
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\r\nICOS Vision Systems Corporation N.V. can be found on the World Wide Web at www.ICOS.be\r\n
\r\nContact:\r\n
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\r\n Investor Relations\r\n
\r\n ICOS Vision Systems Corporation N.V.\r\n
\r\n Tel: 32 16 398 220\r\n
\r\n Investor.relations@icos.be\r\n
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\r\n Lippert/Heilshorn & Associates, Inc.\r\n
\r\n Jody Burfening, 212/838-3777 Ext. 6608)\r\n
\r\n jburfening@lhai.com\r\n
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\r\nSource: ICOS Vision Systems“;0;65;3;“admin“;““;0;““;0;0;0;0;0