RENTON, WA — A New York jury has found a competitor to have infringed on Microscan Systems' bar code technology, the company announced today.

It marks the latest twist in the ongoing lawsuits between Microscan and the competitor, Cognex, over the technology, which is used to read markings and codes with handheld devices.

The lawsuit filed by Microscan alleged that Cognex’s DataMan handheld imagers (7500, 8500, 8600, 9500, and other variants) infringe upon US Patent No. 6,352,204 (the “204 patent”) held by Microscan. The 204 patent is fundamental to the optimal reading of difficult-to-decode direct part marks (DPM) using low-angle dark field illumination, the company said.

Cognex was found to infringe all three of the asserted patent claims, and the jury rejected Cognex’s invalidity challenges to those claims, Microscan said. The jury also found that Microscan was entitled to reasonable royalty damages for past infringement. 

The technology is used in Microscan's Mobile Hawk Handheld DPM Imager.

A year ago in a separate suit, a jury found Microscan;s Mobile Hawk device willfilly infringed a Cognex patent for bar code technology. That jury awarded Cognex $2.6 million in damages. 

Cognex generated nearly $60 million in revenue from sales of its surface inspection equipment in 2014. 

The latest case was tried in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.

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