VISX Says US Court Backs Scope of Patents

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Sept. 24 -- VISX Inc. said that a federal judge issued a preliminary ruling upholding its patents in an infringement lawsuit against Nidek Co. Ltd., a Japanese optical equipment maker. VISX said the ruling by a judge in Federal Court in the Northern District of California determined the scope of certain patent claims asserted by the company.

"As a result, VISX believes that Nidek will be found to infringe its patents," the company said in a statement. The preliminary ruling is the latest in a long-running dispute between the two companies over intellectual property rights covering vision-correction lasers.