EMC sues HDS over patents
Honest competition. Not
Posted in Hardware, 12th April 2002 15:23 GMT
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EMC wants the US government to ban the importation of Hitachi Data Systems products which - it says- infringes six EMC patents.
The HDS products include HORC, HOARC and ShadowImage
The data storage giant says it "refuse(s) to compete against infringing imitations of our own inventions", even though the HDS product "do not approach the levels of performance and functionality that EMC SRDF and EMC TimeFinder provide".
No, it's the principle that is critically important, EMC, which "welcomes honest competition". So is it saying that HDS is providing dishonest competition?
Well yes, actually, it is. "They clearly infringe on our core patents. Hitachi has a history of copying technology invented by others and infringing patents," EMC thunders.
Japanese companies have a history of being a: weak on enforcing their own patents and b: folding quickly whenever a US lawyer picks up the phone. But not in HDS' case. EMC complains that it has been trying to resolved the patent infringement issues "amicably" (You're copying us, stop it and give us lots of money - that kind of amicable?).
EMC sets out its case in greater detail here. ®
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