Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Advanced Digital Information Corp. (ADIC) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jim Oravetz who wrote (2274)	5/3/2005 12:55:38 PM
From: Jim Oravetz	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2283

semiOT:H-P, EMC End Patent Disputes,May Create Ties By PUI-WING TAM and CHARLES FORELLE Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL May 3, 2005; Page B4 Hewlett-Packard Co. and EMC Corp. agreed to settle their long-running patent disputes under a deal that the companies said could lead to a closer business relationship. As part of the agreement, H-P will pay a total of $325 million to EMC over five years by purchasing EMC products for internal use or for resale. The two companies also signed a five-year cross-licensing agreement, without either side admitting wrongdoing. H-P, of Palo Alto, Calif., competes in the market for data storage systems with EMC, which is based in Hopkinton, Mass. The settlement is just the first step in a closer business relationship between the two companies, said Mark Fredrickson, an EMC spokesman. Mr. Fredrickson said EMC is also hoping to finalize an agreement with H-P whereby H-P will resell a range of EMC software products to customers. While H-P and EMC currently work with each other through one of EMC's small divisions, VMware, EMC is aiming for "a broader business relationship," said Mr. Fredrickson. He didn't provide a timetable for an additional agreement. Ryan Donovan, an H-P spokesman, said the settlement "provides an opportunity to expand our existing relationship." But he added that it was too soon to make an announcement about a broader reselling agreement. H-P will account for the EMC settlement as a long-term purchase commitment. The agreement, which goes into effect Sept. 1, caps several fractious years between the companies. H-P resold EMC storage products from 1995 until 1999, when it dropped EMC in favor of Hitachi Data Systems, a unit of Japan-based Hitachi Ltd. H-P continues to resell Hitachi's high-end storage today. After H-P ended the relationship, EMC sued, claiming that the name of an H-P machine sounded too much like "EMC." A federal judge agreed. The agreement settles three lawsuits outstanding that H-P and EMC had filed against each other, dating back to 2001. H-P inherited one of the patent suits, which concern technology used to store data in multiple locations, when it acquired storage-virtualization vendor StorageApps in 2001. EMC had originally sued StorageApps. EMC and H-P also sued each other in 2002 and in 2004 over patent issues. In recent quarters, H-P, the industry's largest storage vendor, has struggled while EMC has gained share.