Legal Proceedings |
6. Legal Proceedings
The Company discloses material loss contingencies deemed to be reasonably possible and accrues for loss contingencies when, in consultation with the Companys legal advisors, the Company concludes that a loss is probable and reasonably estimable. The ability to predict the ultimate outcome of such matters involves judgments, estimates and inherent uncertainties. The actual outcome of such matters could differ materially from managements estimates.
Intellectual Property Litigation
On June20, 2008, plaintiff Convolve, Inc. (Convolve) filed a complaint in the Eastern District of Texas against the Company and two other companies alleging infringement of U.S. Patent Nos. 6,314,473 and 4,916,635. Plaintiff is seeking unspecified monetary damages and injunctive relief. On October10, 2008, Convolve amended its complaint to allege infringement of only the 473 patent. The 473 patent allegedly relates to interface technology to select between certain modes of a disk drives operations relating to speed and noise. The Company intends to defend itself vigorously in this matter.
On December8, 2008, plaintiffs MagSil Corporation and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology filed a complaint in the District of Delaware against the Company and seven other companies in the disk drive industry alleging infringement of U.S. Patent Nos. 5,629,922 and 5,835,314. Plaintiffs are seeking unspecified monetary damages and injunctive relief. The asserted patents allegedly relate to tunneling magnetoresistive technology. The Company intends to defend itself vigorously in this matter.
On April7, 2009, plaintiff Gregory Bender filed a complaint in the Northern District of California against the Company and Seagate Technology LLC alleging infringement of U.S. Patent No. 5,103,188. Plaintiff is seeking unspecified monetary damages. The asserted patent allegedly relates to buffered transconductance amplifier technology. The Company intends to defend itself vigorously in this matter.
On July15, 2009, plaintiffs Carl B. Collins and Farzin Davanloo filed a complaint in the Eastern District of Texas against the Company and ten other companies alleging infringement of U.S. Patent Nos. 5,411,797 and 5,478,650. Plaintiffs are seeking injunctive relief and unspecified monetary damages, fees, and costs. The asserted patents allegedly relate to nanophase diamond films. The Company intends to defend itself vigorously in this matter.
On December7, 2009, plaintiff Nazomi Communications filed a complaint in the Eastern District of Texas against the Company and seven other companies alleging infringement of U.S. Patent Nos. 7,080,362 and 7,225,436. Plaintiffs are seeking injunctive relief and unspecified monetary damages, fees, and costs. The asserted patents allegedly relate to processor cores capable of Java hardware acceleration. The Company intends to defend itself vigorously in this matter.
On January5, 2010, plaintiff Enova Technology Corporation filed a complaint in the District of Delaware against the Company and Initio Corporation alleging infringement of U.S. Patent Nos. 7,136,995 and 7,386,734. Plaintiffs are seeking injunctive rel |