Scanner Technologies v. Icos Vision Systems
| Decision Date | 22 May 2007 |
| Docket Number | No. 00 Civ. 4992(DC).,00 Civ. 4992(DC). |
| Citation | 486 F.Supp.2d 330 |
| Parties | SCANNER TECHNOLOGIES CORP., Plaintiff, v. ICOS VISION SYSTEMS CORP., N.V., Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York |
Esq., Shauna M. Wertheim, Esq., Reston, VA, and Bondy & Schloss LLP, by Jacqueline I. Meyer, Esq., New York, NY, for Plaintiff.
Brown Rudnick Freed & Gesmer, P.C.,** by James W. Stoll, Esq., Brian L. Michaelis, Esq., George S. Haight IV, Esq., Boston, MA, for Defendant.
In this patent case, plaintiff Scanner Technologies Corp. ("Scanner") alleges that defendant ICOS Vision Systems Corp., N.V. ("ICOS") infringes the claims of two of Scanner's patents (the "Patents"): U.S. Patent No. 6,064,756 (the "1756 Patent") and U.S. Patent No. 6,064,757 (the "1757 Patent"). The parties waived their right to a jury and the case was tried to the Court. My findings of fact and conclusions of law follow.
Scanner is a New Mexico corporation, with its principal office in Minneapolis, Minnesota. ICOS is a Belgian corporation with its principal office in Belgium. (Pl. PFF ¶¶ 1, 2).1
Ball grid arrays ("BGAs") and solder bumps on wafers and dies ("Bumps on Wafers") are electronic components that have small solder balls mounted on them in rows and columns that serve as electrical contact elements. (Tr. 31; PX 1 at col. 1; Def. PFF ¶ 1). BGAs are used in computer chips and can be found in devices such as personal computers, cellular telephones, electronic organizers, and compact disc players. Tens of billions of BGAs are produced every year. All the solder balls in each array must be positioned precisely at the same height, for a minute difference in height in any one ball in the array can render the BGA useless. Because the economics involved render repairs impractical, a defective BGA usually means the entire electronic device must be discarded. As a result, the industry has sought to develop an inspection machine to enable manufacturers of ball array devices to inspect BGAs and Bumps on Wafers in a fast and efficient manner. (Tr. 31-32).
The industry, including ICOS and Scanner, began searching for an apparatus and method for the three-dimensional inspection of ball array devices in the early 1990s. The Patents pertain to such an inspection device and method. (See PX 1; Tr. 33-36, 165, 450-51; Pl. PFF ¶ 20). The concept is to take two different views of the BGA and then to extrapolate three-dimensional information that will confirm the height of each ball. (Tr. 38).
Various kinds of inspection methodologies and types of inspection equipment have been available for some years for inspecting the solder balls on BGA devices. In particular, prior art to the Patents included laser range-finding technology, moire interferometry, structured light pattern systems, and two-camera systems. (Def. PFF ¶ 2; PX 1 at col. 1).
The '756 Patent is an apparatus patent entitled "Apparatus for Three Dimensional Inspection of Electronic Components." (PX 1). The '757 Patent is a method patent entitled "Process for Three Dimensional Inspection of Electronic Components." (PX 2). The Patents relate to the three-dimensional inspection of BGAs and Bumps on Wafers. (PX 1 at col. 1; Tr. 62).
Applications for the '756 and '757 Patents were filed on May 28, 1999, and the Patents were issued on May 16, 2000, to Elwin M. Beaty and David P. Mork — the two inventors. . Mork assigned his rights in the Patents to Beaty, the CEO and majority shareholder of Scanner. Beaty then granted Scanner an exclusive right to the Patents. (Pl. PFF ¶ 6; Tr. 61; PXs 145, 146).
ICOS has been working on the three-dimensional measurement of BGAs since 1993. (Tr. 569). As early as November 1993, ICOS recognized that a market was emerging for BGA technology. (Tr. 569; DX 31 at 016800). It recognized that three-dimensional inspection of BGAs was a major development, and that "stereovision" — using two or more views of a camera — looked "most promising" as a technology. (Tr. 571; DX 31 at 016805). It was obvious that the use of two or more cameras would require calibration of the cameras to obtain measurements. (Tr. 571-72). In addition, as early as November 1993, ICOS recognized that different triangulation techniques could be used to obtain three-dimensional information. (Tr. 573-74; DX 31 at 016802). The use of triangulation in two-camera vision systems has been well known since before 1997. (Def. PFF ¶ 3; Tr. 406, 757).
ICOS began developing a two-camera system for the inspection of BGAs, the "Projector" system, in 1993 or 1994 and began selling it in November 1996, with publicly available brochures. (Tr. 372, 586-88, 596; Def. PFF ¶¶ 9, 10, 11; DX 12). The Projector system used a first camera in a normal position and a second camera in a position angled from the normal, as well as structured light from a projector. (Def. PFF ¶ 4; Tr. 588). The Projector system was prior art to the Patents. (Def. PFF ¶ 5; PX 1 at col. 1).
The image taken by the first camera in the Projector system produced a donutshaped image because of the use of a ring light. (Tr. 588; DX 12). The Projector system contained a processor coupled to receive data from the two cameras. (Tr. 589; DX 12). A calibration reticle then calibrated the two-dimensional camera. (Tr. 590; DX 12). A manual from October 1997 for the Projector system explained the use of a triangulation principle to perform three-dimensional measurements, including the use of Z calibration and bilinear interpolation. (Tr. 593-94; DX 33 at 013517, 013520).
The Projector system had problems with speed and reliability because of its projector illumination source. In the summer of 1998 ICOS began to consider removing the projector from the Projector system and changing to something different. (Tr. 378-89, 408-09, 597-600). By the fall of 1998, ICOS's efforts to improve the three-dimensional measurement of BGAs were well under way. (DX 21; Tr. 380-81, 436, 451; see also Tr. 597-615; DXs 34-36, 38-43).
In the fall of 1998, ICOS began testing a prototype of a new BGA inspection system that would eventually become the CyberSTEREO. (Tr. 388-91, 451, 612-13; DXs 24, 25; see also Tr. 615-16; DX 44). The CyberSTEREO was announced on January 26, 1999, and ICOS described it as a system different from its Projector system. (Tr. 49; PXs 4, 101). ICOS started converting existing Projector systems to the new CyberSTEREO system by mid-February 1999. ICOS was shipping new CyberSTEREO modules by mid-1999. (Tr. 393-95; PX 4). Subsequent generations of the product were called CyberSTEREO II and 3D Stereo. (PI. PFF ¶ 37).
The CyberSTEREO products are an outgrowth of the Projector system. (Tr. 374, 377). The Projector system was designed to measure the absolute value of the top of the balls of BGAs. (Tr. 376). When the projector was taken out of the Projector system for the CyberSTEREO, the computer code was changed so as to measure coplanarity — whether the balls were lying in the same plane — instead of measuring the absolute value of the top of the balls. (Tr. 377, 408-10, 450-52). In addition, the CyberSTEREO measures a point inside the ball rather than the top of the ball. (Tr. 581-82).2 This measurement, which involves certain assumptions, is simpler and faster. (Tr. 582). The CyberSTEREO is also faster and more reliable than the Projector system. (Tr. 409-10, 596-97).
The CyberSTEREO uses two digital cameras: the first (the 2D camera) looks straight down at a glass surface and the second (the 3D camera) looks at the surface from an angle or side view. (Tr. 715-16; DX P at 2). The cameras observe fiducial marks (points of reference) on the surface and record their locations on the surface, in pixels, horizontally and vertically. For example, a mark at (50, 40) would be located at the 50th pixel on the X axis and the 40th pixel on the Y axis. (Tr. 715-17; DX P at 3). The two cameras, however, will "see" different locations in each camera's field of view because of the differing angles. Hence, four fiducial marks with locations of (30, 30), (70, 30), (30, 70), and (70, 70) as seen by the 2D camera would be seen, for example, as locations of (40, 40), (70, 30), (40, 80), and (70, 70) by the 3D camera. (Tr. 717-18; DX P at 4, 5). The shift is the result of the distortion caused by the differing perspective of the side camera. (Tr. 717).3 The locations for both cameras are stored in computer memory and the CyberSTEREO computes the distances between the marks and some ratios of distances between the marks. This is the calibration process. (Tr. 717-18).4
The inspection process begins with the placing of a ball on the surface to be viewed by the cameras. The 2D camera sees the ball, for example, between two fiducial marks. The location as seen by the 2D camera is recorded, e.g., (40, 30). (Tr. 721; DX P at 6). The 3D camera sees the ball as being in a different location, e.g., (55, 35). (Tr. 721-22; DX P at 7). The computer records this location as well and also computes the distances from the first fiducial mark to the center of the ball (Dl) and from the center of the ball to the second fiducial mark (D2). (Tr. 722; DX P at 7). The ball is then "transferred" to the 2D camera, maintaining the distances D1 and D2 (respectively, from the first fiducial mark to the center of the ball and from the center of the ball to the second fiducial mark). "Transferred" means that the ball is placed in the approximate position where it should appear in the 2D camera, using the information obtained in the calibration process in a bilinear interpolation process. (Tr. 721-23).
The locations of the actual ball and the "transferred" ball in the 2D camera are compared as a...
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