SanDisk gets appeal in Flash patent case

Is it just me or are there a lot of technology patent cases in front of courts these days? SanDisk has been in the courts since 2001 to protect one of their Flash memory card patents. They sued Ritex, Memorex and Pretec, alleging they infringed the patent. The case was thrown out of court by the District Court of Northern California in 2004. Shocking no one, SanDisk appealed.

Now the Court of Appeals has ruled that the lower court was wrong to dismiss the key inventive features of the patent. They have ruled, therefore, that the case must return to the District Court to be re-heard.

With the use of Flash technology exploding and the product range rapidly evolving, patents are of crucial importance for companies to recoup investments and ensure maximum profitability. Besides this case, SanDisk is also after STMicroelectronics for infringing on two patents. SanDisk suffered a disappointing ruling in one of the cases. The other hasn’t come to court yet.