Tuesday, May 03, 2005

EMC, HP settle patent litigation

Consistent with recent trends in IP to settle, rather than to fight, EMC and HP announced on May 2, 2005 a settlement of their recent patent litigation. The settlement includes a five year cross-licensing arrangement.

from AP, May 2, 2005:

SAN FRANCISCO -- Technology bellwethers EMC Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. announced Monday [May 2] they've agreed to "amicably" dismiss four years of litigation over allegations of patent infringement between the two companies.

As part of the agreement, Palo Alto, Calif.-based HP will pay EMC $325 million or buy $325 million in EMC products over the next five years. The settlement also includes a five-year patent cross-license agreement between Hopkinton, Mass.-based storage company EMC and HP, one of the world's largest computer makers.

As part of the deal, neither company admitted wrongdoing in the patent infringement allegations, which began in 2001.

HP sued EMC for allegedly infringing at least seven HP patents relating to data storage. The HP patents involve software and hardware that transfers data between different storage formats, provides backup storage in case of disk failure, connects servers to storage systems, and boosts hard drive efficiency.

EMC countersued with at least six infringement claims against HP. Those patents involved EMC software that copies data onto different storage systems, and software that maintains mainframe computers.

Executives at both companies praised the agreement in prepared statements.

"This resolution allows EMC to protect our substantial intellectual property investments and patent portfolio while serving the best interests of our customers," said Paul T. Dacier, EMC's senior vice president and general counsel.

Joe Beyers, vice president of intellectual property licensing at HP, said the deal "recognizes the strength of both companies' intellectual property portfolios."

Shares of Hewlett-Packard increased 50 cents, or 2.4 percent, to close Monday at $20.97. EMC shares closed down 28 cents at $12.84. Both trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home