CMC Materials receives favorable ruling in trade dispute

AURORA - CMC Materials Inc. Friday said it has received a favorable ruling from an International Trade Commission judge regarding the company's intellectual property.

CMC's litigation against DuPont de Nemours Inc. and several DuPont subsidiaries involves DuPont's importation, sale and marketing in the U.S. of certain chemical mechanical planarization slurries and components thereof, including acidic slurries for polishing dielectrics, which have now been found to infringe on a patent owned by CMC, the company said.

CMC said an administrative law judge with the ITC has issued an initial determination and found that DuPont infringes on CMC's patent rights and has violated United States trade laws in importing these slurry products and components into the U.S.

"We remain committed to the enforcement of our intellectual property and protection of our significant investment in patent-protected research and development," said H. Carol Bernstein, CMC vice president, secretary and general counsel.

The findings of the judge will now be reviewed by the commission. If the findings are confirmed, United States Customs and Border Protection will prohibit importation of the products into the United States

CMC, headquartered in Aurora, is a global supplier of materials primarily to semiconductor manufacturers. The company's products play a critical role in the production of advanced semiconductor devices, helping to enable the manufacture of smaller, faster and more complex devices by its customers.