Hexagon patent upheld and retrial ordered

The jury in the federal court in San Diego, US, hearing the case of Hexagon owned ROMER Inc. vs. FARO Technologies, Inc., found unanimously in favour of ROMER that its patent is valid. However, the same nine-member jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision on infringement, so the trial judge has ordered a new, shortened trial with a new jury to decide the issue of patent infringement. The new trial is scheduled to commence 3 April 2007.

The patent dispute involves a key feature of articulated arm coordinate measurement machines, the ability to rotate the primary axis indefinitely without encountering a hard stop. The measurement devices are used by engineers to design and inspect a variety of manufactured products.

"As the world leader in multidimensional measurement, Hexagon has a R&D budget close to 10 percent of sales and a portfolio of more than 1 500 active patents. We take patent infringement very seriously and have a principle to enforce our rights", says Ola Rollén, CEO and President of Hexagon AB.

ROMER Inc., and its subsidiary CimCore Corp, designs and manufactures portable coordinate measurement machines. ROMER Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hexagon AB.