Daily News Briefs

P.A.L.M. Microlaser Technologies AG, of Bernried, Germany, won a patent infringement suit last week against Leica Microsystems Wetzlar GmbH, filed in Munich District Court in September 2000, upholding P.A.L.M.'s European patent EP 0 879 408 B1 involving a process for laser-aided microdissection in which selected biological objects are catapulted away from an object carrier toward a collection device with the help of a laser shot. The court ruled that microdissection made by Leica infringe on the patent and ordered it to pay up to 250,000 euros in compensatory damanges. P.A.L.M. Microlaser Technologies AG is a division of the Carl Zeiss Group. . . . A technology park designed for nanotechnology manufacturing was announced this week by the Saratoga Economic Development Corp. (SEDC), of Saratoga, N.Y. The announcement was made at Semicon Europa 2005, being held this week at the Munich Trade Fair Centre. The 1350-acre Luther Forest Technology Campus, located in Saratoga, is being reviewed for up to four fabrication facilities and another 2 million square feet of support buildings. . . . Sensor System Solutions Inc. (3S), of Irvine, Calif., announced it is launching, effective today, a joint venture to produce sensors for the automotive market with China Automotive Systems Inc. (CAAS), based in Hubei Provence, China. Production will begin by August. Plans are for an initial annual output of 4.5 million sensors with estimated net sales of $40 million. 3S said it will also serve as its component manufacturing and sourcing base to allow it to focus on system integration in the US. CAAS is a supplier of power steering systems and components to the Chinese automotive industry, operating through four Sino-foreign joint ventures. 3S develops microelectromechanical systems and thin-film sensors to the medical, chemical, oil and gas industries.