Hitachi sues Chinese 1-inch hard disk vendor
Hitachi sues Chinese 1-inch hard disk vendor
Jan 04, 2005: Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (HGST) has sued a Chinese manufacturer of small form factor hard disk drives over alleged patent infringements of HGST's 1-inch hard disk drive.
HGST, which was founded in January 2003 as a result of the strategic combination of Hitachi’s and IBM’s storage technology businesses, is pursuing GS Magicstor Inc.; its Chinese parent company, GS Magic, Inc.; and Riospring, Inc., which is Magicstor’s research and development affiliate in the U.S., for alleged infringement of multiple Hitachi GST patents relating to hard disk drives.
In the lawsuit, Hitachi GST seeks monetary damages and a permanent injunction that bars the GS Magic entities from making, using, importing, offering to sell, or selling the allegedly infringing products in the United States.
“Hitachi GST’s ability to compete in the hard disk drive industry is based on a history of deep investment in research and development, particularly in the advancement of innovative small-form-factor hard drives,” said Robert Holleran, general manager of Hitachi GST’s Hard Disk Drive Group. “We have a responsibility to protect our investment and the intellectual property of our company against those who are competing unfairly in our industry.”
The market for small form factor hard disks is growing rapidly at present, largely fuelled by the popularity of portable products, such as Apple's iPod music player, which uses the disks.
Use of the disks is set to extend to the mobile phone market, with Samsung the first to announce plans to introduce a cell phone containing a hard disk drive. Other operators are likely to follow suit in the near future.
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