CONCORD, Mass., Aug. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Starmet Corporation(Nasdaq: STMT)
announced today that it received notification from the United States District
Court of Massachusetts that its patent litigation instituted by Brush Wellman
against the Company was dismissed without prejudice to either party. On
December 9, 1997, after Starmet refused a request for cross-licensing of
Starmet's patented Beralcast(R) technology, Brush Wellman, Inc. instituted a
suit alleging that investment casting of beryllium aluminum alloys by the
company and its subsidiaries infringes Brush Wellman, Inc. U.S. Patent No.
5,642,773.
In response to this action, on January 22, 1998 the company requested
patent reexamination by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. On
March 28, 1998 this reexamination request was approved. In granting the
request, the patent examiner agreed that each of the examples of prior art
cited by the company in its request independently raised substantially new
questions of patentability which were not decided in the previous examination
which lead to the granting of the Brush Wellman Patent.
Starmet Commercial Castings LLC and Starmet Aerocast LLC, wholly-owned
subsidiaries of Starmet Corporation, manufacture advanced metal products for
government, aerospace and commercial applications using Starmet's patented
Beralcast(R) alloys and related patented and proprietary technology.
Starmet's products are produced by a variety of techniques including
investment and permanent mold casting techniques. Its Beralcast(R) beryllium
aluminum alloys are more than three times stiffer than aluminum, with 22% less
weight. The material is ideally suited to certain demanding commercial and
aerospace applications.
SOURCE Starmet Corporation
 back to top
Related links:
http://www.starmet.com
Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com or
fax, 800-758-5804, ext. 632850
CONTACT:
Frank J. Vumbaco, Vice President, Corporate
Communications of Starmet Corporation, 978-369-5410
|
