You are here: silicon.com > Hardware > Storage

Storage

EMC and HDS settle spat

Shake on it

Tags: hds, spat, storage, emc

By Sandeep Junnarkar

Published: 4 March 2003 15:41 GMT

Storage vendors EMC and Hitachi on Tuesday settled their patent infringement lawsuits and countersuits, agreeing to cross-license patents and exchange technology.

The five-year agreement calls for cross-licensing of their intellectual property and for mutual releases between EMC and Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) and Hitachi Computer Products, subsidiaries of the Japanese manufacturing giant. The companies also agreed to a framework for exchanging technology related to application programming interfaces, or APIs, that are pertinent to storage systems.

The companies said that the technology exchange, which is expected to be finalised in the coming weeks, will help them develop storage management applications that are designed to manage storage systems built by the other company.

EMC and Hitachi disclosed only that, under terms of the agreements, Hitachi has agreed to make 'balancing' payments to EMC. The companies added that the remaining terms of the cross-licensing agreement are confidential.

EMC filed suit against Hitachi in April 2002, alleging HDS shipped software that infringed on six EMC patents. EMC also asked the International Trade Commission to block the importation of the HDS software. The trade commission proceeding was scheduled to begin next week.

Hitachi countersued EMC later in April, alleging that EMC's Clariion and Symmetrix lines infringed on eight of its patents. Hitachi had sought an injunction forbidding the sale of the products.

"We are happy to conclude this matter in a way that allows us to go about our business of competing in the marketplace," Isao Ono, an Hitachi executive, said in a statement.

EMC and Hewlett-Packard have also filed suits and countersuits alleging storage patent infringements.

Sandeep Junnarkar writes for CNET News.com.

  1. Zones
  2. Management
  3. Networks
  4. Software
  5. IT Services
  6. Hardware
  1. Verticals
  2. Public Sector
  3. Financial Services
  4. Retail & Leisure

  • Jobs
Regulatory Affairs Manager - 50K+ - East Anglia

Co-ordinates the preparation of renewals, variations and other regulatory submissions in International territories in accordance with Corporate ...

Business Change Manager -ERP Implementation -UK Based with travel opps

Key role deliverables will be; A change activity that is aligned with the overall programme plan Skilled and motivated change management resources ...

Senior EMC Test Engineer

Senior EMC test engineer is required by a leading fortune five hundred aviation and defence company. With a solid background in EMC test this ...

CIO50 2008
The silicon.com CIO50 2008 profiles the most influential and innovative tech chiefs in the UK across all industries and organisation size, from the biggest FTSE100 companies to high growth dot-com start ups and the public sector. The list was voted on by the UK CIO community and a panel of experts. Find out more in our latest special report.





Quick Sitemap Links: