Lexar is not going down with out a fight----
Lexar Media Disputes SanDisk Patent Infringement Claim
Business Wire - March 25, 1998 11:18
%LEXAR-MEDIA %CALIFORNIA %COMPUTERS %ELECTRONICS %COMED V%BW P%BW
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FREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 25, 1998--Lexar Media, a technology leader in digital film
and other memory products, disputes SanDisk Corporation's patent infringement claim filed on March 23,
1998 in the U.S. Federal District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco.
"We strongly believe that Lexar Media has not infringed upon any SanDisk patent," said John Reimer,
president and CEO of Lexar Media. "We have thoroughly explored the issues raised by SanDisk and find them
unsupportable. Moreover, we have serious questions on the validity of the SanDisk patent that we intend to
raise during the course of litigation"
While SanDisk has signed broad cross-licensing agreements with several companies, to the best of our
knowledge no company has signed a cross license agreement specifically on U.S. Patent 5,602,987, the subject
of their claim.
According to Reimer, "Lexar Media's core technology team has been developing ATA interface technology
since 1985, when they were a part of Cirrus Logic, Inc. In fact, the first controller used by SanDisk's initial
commercial product was a Cirrus Logic device. No other company can claim greater expertise or greater
product performance than Lexar Media in ATA controller technology."
Lexar Media, Inc. specializes in removable memory, or "digital film", for digital cameras. The Company offers
CompactFlash and SmartMedia products, the industry-standard form factors in widespread use by the digital
camera industry. Lexar Media's patented Space Manager technology is optimized for use with digital cameras
where large image files need to be written to memory quickly before another photograph can be taken. Lexar
Media's current products are several times faster in sustained write performance than SanDisk's latest
technology. The Company has made substantial progress in recent months with the announcement of
industry-leading flash memory performance, the closing of the company's second round of financing (raising
over $18 million in the last 10 months) and the securing of major customer orders.
Lexar Media is privately held, a former division of Cirrus Logic until September, 1996. Under Cirrus Logic, the
world's largest independent supplier of disk-drive ATA controllers, the Company developed its flash controller
expertise that provides the core of the company's performance and competitive advantage in the CF
marketplace. The company markets CompactFlash, PC Card, SmartMedia and controller technology to OEMs
and end-users. The company has offices in Fremont, California and Tokyo, Japan.
NOTE TO EDITORS: Lexar Media Inc. is an authorized licensee of the CompactFlash trademark.
SmartMedia is a trademark of Toshiba Corporation. Space Manager is a trademark of Lexar Media, Inc. |
