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Patent owner wins dispute over alleged open standard technology


Two US companies engaged in a court battle over whether a patent was valid for a digital film technology that was marketed as open standard have agreed to settle their case such that the patent owner will receive $8 million in lieu of past royalties.
In March 1998, SanDisk sued Lexar in California alleging that Lexar's technology, which is used in flash memory for digital cameras, infringed a SanDisk patent. Lexar argued that SanDisk had always promoted its technology as open source – which seemed contradictory to its patent protection. However, in resolution of the case, Lexar has acknowledged that SanDisk's patent is indeed valid and that it was infringed by Lexar's “CompactFlash” and “PC Card” products.

Lexar agreed to pay lump sum payment of $8 million for royalties due on the patent.

In a separate case in September this year, Lexar sued SanDisk in Delaware alleging that SanDisk's own “SmartMedia” digital film products infringe a Lexar patent. SanDisk has agreed to pay Lexar a lump sum payment of $2 million for a fully paid up license for use of the patent in its Smart Media products.

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