Tornado Device for Semiconductor Cleaning Does Not Infringe

Case: Semitool, Inc. v. Dynamic Micro Systems Semiconductor Equipment GMBH, Case No. 05-1299 (Fed. Cir. 4/6/06)

The One Sentence Summary: Although claim language could be read more broadly, claims were limited by the specification.


What They Were Fighting About: Plaintiff alleged that DMS's Tornado device for cleaning semiconductor wafer carriers infringed its patents.

Federal Circuit Holdings:

• Affirms summary judgment of non-infringement.
• The specification made clear that the "processing chamber" was co-extensive with the entire interior of the processing vessel.
• In order to infringe plaintiff's patent, a system must supply drying gas to the process chamber. As the condenser in defendant's system was inside the processing chamber, it could not supply drying gas to the processing chamber as required for infringement.