Cognex receives second settlement in vision software patent dispute

Cognex Corporation has accepted a settlement offer from Yxlon International GmbH and its U.S. subsidiary in a dispute concerning the importation and sale of equipment containing MVTec Halcon machine vision software. Terms of the settlement between the parties were not made public.

Cognex has alleged in complaints filed with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) and in federal court in Massachusetts that Halcon software infringes at least three Cognex machine vision patents. A prior settlement with Multitest Electronische Systeme GmbH was announced on September 8, 2009.

The current settlement agreement releases Yxlon from the ITC investigation. Yxlon is not a party to the federal court lawsuit.

"The recent successes of Cognex in this matter validate the strength of our patents and the claims that we have asserted," said Todd Keebaugh, Cognex Vice President of Legal Affairs. "Cognex is pleased with Yxlon's decision to seek settlement of this matter, and we value this as an opportunity to build a successful partnership with Yxlon and its worldwide affiliates going forward."