Lexar, SanDisk lock horns over flash patent
rights
Semiconductor Business News
(09/08/00, 11:06:03 AM EDT)
FREMONT, Calif.--Lexar Media Inc. here announced a patent infringement suit
against SanDisk Corp., claiming the flash memory supplier of violating its
technology in a number of products. SanDisk in nearby Sunnyvale immediately
responded to the suit, calling the case a desperate move by Lexar, which is being
sued by SanDisk for violating its patent rights.
The new suit centers on SanDisk's SmartMedia cards, readers, and drivers, which
Lexar says violate one of its key U.S. patents. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S.
District Court in San Francisco, seeks unspecified damages and an injunction
against those SanDisk products.
"We tried to resolve our disputes with SanDisk outside of court, but as those
efforts have failed, we are forced to defend our intellectual property," said John
Reimer, president of Lexar. "We are currently looking closely at a number of other
SanDisk products as well," he added.
But SanDisk officials claimed that Lexar filed its case to fight the other suit,
pending in the San Francisco federal court. SanDisk president and CEO Eli Harari
called the new lawsuit "a desperation move by Lexar to buttress its weak position
in the pending litigation." He added that Lexar's claims are unfounded and
promised that SanDisk will vigorously defend itself in the case.
In addition, SanDisk said the SmartMedia cards, readers, and drivers mentioned
in Lexar's suit are purchased from third party companies, which design and
manufacture the products. |
