MIGDAL HAEMEK, ISRAEL -- Rudolph Technologies has filed a claim in US District Court alleging two Camtek AOI machines infringe a recently issued patent.

The suit, filed June 1 in Minnesota, claims Camtek's Falcon and Gannet machines infringe Rudolph's patent No. 7,779, 528. Camtek has not yet been served with a complaint in this lawsuit.

The patent was issued the same day Rudolph filed the lawsuit. Camtek said in a press release it intends to aggressively defend itself.

An earlier patent infringement lawsuit against Camtek with respect to the same Falcon machines is under post trial motions following a jury verdict and judgment against Camtek.

Camtek said it would respect the court injunction from Aug. 31, prohibiting it from making, using, selling or offering to sell Falcon systems in the US.

"Although Rudolph filed an additional patent claim against us, we continue to believe that our Falcon and Gannet products do not infringe Rudolph's patents US 6.826.298 or the 528 patent, and beyond we believe that the patents themselves are invalid," said Rafi Amit, Camtek's CEO. "We believe that Rudolph's new lawsuit reflects an attempt to harm Camtek due to an inability on the part of Rudolph to compete on the delivery of products and service."