ST. FLORIAN, Austria, July 14 /EMWNews/ -- EV Group (EVG), a leading

supplier of wafer-bonding and lithography equipment for the advanced

semiconductor and packaging, MEMS, silicon-on-insulator (SOI) and emerging

nanotechnology markets, today announced that it has filed a patent

infringement lawsuit in federal court of New York against the 3M Company

("3M"). The complaint alleges that 3M has infringed upon a U.S. Patent

through the marketing and sale of the 3M Wafer Support System, which is

used in the production of silicon wafers. The complaint seeks damages to

compensate EVG for 3M's wrongful infringement and an injunction against 3M

from all future infringement of the Patent.



    DI Erich Thallner, president of EVG, notes, "EVG's success depends on

the protection of our intellectual property. When a company infringes on

our rights, we have a responsibility to protect the tremendous investments

we've made in research and development on behalf of our customers,

suppliers and employees. To this end, we will vigorously protect our

arsenal of technology innovation from those who we feel are competing

unfairly through legal recourse, if necessary, as is the case here."



    Semiconductor wafer manufacturing typically involves hundreds of

discrete operations on the surface of a silicon wafer, which are performed

over a number of weeks. In order to minimize wafer breakage and damage,

which can easily occur during this lengthy manufacturing process, the base

wafers are typically 700- to 800-microns thick. Stacked die packages

require significantly reduced final wafer thickness in order not to create

unacceptably tall packages. The more dies that can be packaged in a stack,

the better. The device claimed in the patent enables silicon wafers to be

thinned to less than 50 microns with standard back grinding equipment,

which means that a greater number of dies can be stacked-providing greater

performance without an increase in height.

    About EV Group



    EV Group (EVG) is a world leader in wafer-processing solutions for

semiconductor, MEMS and nanotechnology applications. Through close

collaboration with its global customers, the company implements its

flexible manufacturing model to develop reliable, high-quality,

low-cost-of-ownership systems that are easily integrated into customers'

fab lines. Key products include wafer bonding, lithography/nanoimprint

lithography (NIL) and metrology equipment, as well as photoresist coaters,

cleaners and inspection systems.



    In addition to its dominant share of the market for wafer bonders, EVG

holds a leading position in NIL and lithography for advanced packaging and

MEMS. Along these lines, the company co-founded the EMC-3D consortium in

2006 to create and help drive implementation of a cost-effective

through-silicon via (TSV) process for major ICs and MEMS/sensors. Other

target semiconductor- related markets include silicon-on-insulator (SOI),

compound semiconductor and silicon-based power-device solutions.



    Founded in 1980, EVG is headquartered in St. Florian, Austria, and

operates via a global customer support network, with subsidiaries in Tempe,

AZ; Albany, NY; Yokohama and Fukuoka, Japan; Seoul, Korea and Chung-Li,

Taiwan. The company's unique Triple i-approach (invent - innovate -

implement) is supported by a vertical integration, allowing EVG to respond

quickly to new technology developments, apply the technology to

manufacturing challenges and expedite device manufacturing in high volume.

More information is available at http://www.EVGroup.com.



    EVG is a registered trademark of EV Group. All other trademarks or

registered trademarks mentioned in this release are the property of their

respective holders.