Barely three weeks ago, Seagate CEO Bill Watkins simultaneously pronounced solid state drives (SSDs) to be toys for a niche market and then threatened to start suing people if it appeared that flash-based storage might become a threat to the magnetic storage industry. That date has apparently arrived. Seagate filed suit against US-based STEC today, claiming that the SSD manufacturer is in violation of four patents covering solid-state memory storage, memory backup, and a drive’s ability to scan/test itself in order to check for errors.
Watkins has already issued a statement “reassuring” the public that this is simply a case of Seagate moving to protect its unjustly infringed IP. STEC, unsurprisingly, has a somewhat different take on the situation. According to STEC, Seagate has never attempted to open communications regarding any patent infringement. Furthermore, as reported by CNET, STEC believes it can prove Seagate’s patents invalid and inapplicable. It’s all standard stuff in patent litigation. (link)
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