Perhaps this had something to do with it:
Hitachi and SanDisk sign flash patent cross-licensing pact
SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 1, 1997--SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) today announced that it has signed a cross-licensing agreement with Hitachi, Ltd. for flash memory related patents.
Under the agreement, Hitachi and SanDisk have licensed each other's patents covering the design and manufacture of flash memory products, giving both companies worldwide rights to use those patents. Specific terms of the agreement are confidential.
Hitachi, Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, is the world's leading global electronics company, with fiscal 1996 consolidated sales (ending March 31, 1997) of $68.7 billion. The company manufactures and markets a wide range of products, including computers, semiconductors, consumer products and power and industrial equipment.
SanDisk Corporation, the world's largest supplier of flash data storage products, manufactures and markets industry-standard, solid-state data, image and audio storage products using patented, high
density flash memory and controller technology. SanDisk has strategic alliances with Seagate Technology, Matsushita Electronic Corp., NEC Corp. and LG Semicon. Seagate holds a 25 percent equity stake in SanDisk. SanDisk is based in Sunnyvale.
Hitachi is a fair sized company, after all.
Jim |
