Nanometrics Believes Patent Infringement Claim Has No Merit

Lawsuit Possibly Motivated by Competitive Issues Rather Than Intellectual Property Rights

Nanometrics, Incorporated (Nasdaq: NANO), a leading supplier of advanced integrated and standalone metrology equipment for the semiconductor industry, today announced that it has received notice of a patent infringement lawsuit brought by Nova Measuring Instruments, Ltd. (Nova), alleging infringement of US Patent No. 6,752,689 (the ‘689 Patent).

Nanometrics believes that Nova’s lawsuit is primarily motivated by competitive concerns rather than a desire to protect its intellectual property. In addition, Nanometrics believes that it has superior technologies and has protected those technologies with appropriate intellectual property rights. With respect to this lawsuit, Nanometrics firmly believes that its products do not infringe any valid claim of the ‘689 patent and will aggressively pursue its defense to this infringement action. Further, Nanometrics will review its own intellectual property portfolio to determine if Nova is violating or infringing any of Nanometrics’ intellectual property.

Nanometrics CEO John Heaton explained that the company’s metrology and Advanced Process Control (APC) technologies have become more important to the semiconductor industry. As a result of this trend, our intellectual property portfolio is also growing in importance. Nanometrics intends to aggressively defend and protect its intellectual property rights. “We will defend ourselves from these claims and remain vigilant in protecting our own technology rights,” stated Heaton.

About Nanometrics
Nanometrics is a leader in the design, manufacture and marketing of high-performance process control metrology systems used in the manufacture of semiconductors, integrated circuits and flat panel displays. Nanometrics metrology systems measure various thin film properties, critical circuit dimensions and layer-to-layer circuit alignment (overlay) during various steps of the manufacturing process, enabling semiconductor and integrated circuit manufacturers to improve yields, increase productivity and lower their manufacturing costs. The Company maintains its headquarters in Milpitas, CA, and sales and service offices worldwide. Nanometrics’ website is: http://www.nanometrics.com.

Safe Harbor Statement
This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including statements related to the outcome of any pending or threatened litigation, our anticipated growth, our intellectual property portfolio and our manufacturing capabilities. Actual results may differ materially from those projected due to a number of risks and uncertainties, including among others, risks related to reduction in demand for our products, the strength of our intellectual property rights and technology, trends in our industry, commercial and strategic agreements, new product offerings from our competitors, changes in or an inability to execute our business strategy, unanticipated manufacturing or supply problems and taxation. These and other risks are detailed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our latest Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed on April 1, 2004, and all subsequent filings.

Contact:
Peter Gise
Nanometrics
408.435.9600