Dave Horvath
15 Dec 2006 6:40
Known for its flash memory and MP3 players that hit the market with most of the functionality of the market leading competitors yet at cheaper prices, SanDisk is the target for a recent lawsuit and injunction by the Italian company Sisvel S.p.a.
With the injuction submitted to a Berlin court, Sisvel were granted seizure of SanDisk products at a recent trade show. German authorities raided the 2006 IFA trade show and took control of any and all SanDisk MP3 products on display as well as advertising materials. The grounds for this seizure come by the fact that Sisvel believes SanDisk had not secured the proper patents for its MP3 playback on their devices. According to a Sisvel representative, the Berlin District Court ruled the seizure legitimate and warranted even though no ruling has come about stating that any actual patent infringement has been committed. As backwards as this may sound, this potentially could open the door to future devices in that more companies may be obligated to obtain patent licenses for anything with Sisvel's MP3 audio playback.
Many consumers may not know of Sisvel, but they have obtained many of the patents for various forms of audio playback. They claim that their patents are essential for all forms of MP3 playback and have convinced many hardware giants including Apple and Microsoft to purchase them. SanDisk claims that its players do not infringe on their territory in anyway and holds fast to their claim that they owe Sisvel nothing and will not pay them anything.
With a long background of lawsuits, Sisvel is going for the collective throats of SanDisk by not only pursuing action in Germany, but the Netherlands, the UK and the US as well.
Source:
ARS Technica