Press Release: Court reinstates patent lawsuit filed by SanDisk
SanDisk Corporation announced today that the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) on July 8, reversed a summary
judgment ruling of non-infringement by a California District Court regarding
SanDisk's U.S. Patent No. 5,602,987 (“'987 Patent”). As a result of
the CAFC decision, SanDisk will renew the prosecution of its infringement claims
against Ritek, Pretec & Memorex flash memory cards. The CAFC ruling supports
SanDisk’s interpretation of the key inventive features claimed in the
‘987 patent, and thereby eliminates the primary non-infringement argument
of Ritek, Pretec & Memorex. SanDisk expects to seek summary judgment of
infringement against the accused company's.
SanDisk pioneering inventions
The '987 Patent (which was issued on Feb. 11,
1997) teaches and claims important aspects of the emulation of a magnetic disk
drive in removable flash memory storage products, such as SD Cards, Memory Stick
Pro, USB flash drives, certain portable flash audio players, CompactFlash, and
MultiMedia-Cards among others. The pioneering inventions of the '987 patent
enable flash memory cards and other storage pro-ducts to achieve enhanced
performance, reliability and host platform compatibility.
SanDisk will continue to protect
“We are very pleased with the decision
handed down by the CAFC and believe this reaffirms the important and fundamental
nature of SanDisk’s patented technology,” said E. Earle Thompson,
SanDisk’s Chief Intellectual Property Counsel. “SanDisk will
continue to protect its investment in intellectual property and vigorously
enforce its patents against companies that seek to use SanDisk’s patented
technology without a license.”
SanDisk is the original inventor of
flash storage cards
SanDisk is the original
inventor of flash storage cards and is the world’s largest supplier of
flash data storage card products, using it patented, high-density flash memory
and controller technology. SanDisk is headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA and has
operations worldwide, with more than half its sales outside the USA.
Factors that may affect future results
The matters discussed in this news release
contain forward looking statements that are subject to certain risks and
uncertainties as described under the caption, “Factors That May Affect
Future Results,” specifically the section entitled "Risks Related to Our
Intellectual Property” in SanDisk’s annual report on Form 10-K and
quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. SanDisk assumes no obligation to update the information in this
release.
Posted: Mon - July 11, 2005 at 11:42 PM