Hard Drive Patent Infringement Investigation Hits Five Companies || The Mac Observer

Skip navigational links

Choose text size:

DealsOnTheWeb Daily Deal: J&R ComputerWorld's Weekend Sale - Save on TVs, Digital Cameras, Games & Tons More

Hard Drive Patent Infringement Investigation Hits Five Companies

by , 11:15 AM EDT, October 11th, 2007

Steven and Mary Reiber filed a complaint with the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) claiming several companies are infringing on hard drive technology patents they own. The government organization is now looking into Western Digital, Toshiba, and Seagate Technologies Hewlett-Packard, and Dell for possible violations.

The couple claimed that several hard drive manufacturers as well as companies that use hard drives in their products are infringing on their patents covering dissipative ceramic bonding methods. The two are hoping for a permanent cease and desist order to prevent the import of the hard drive products.

Should the ITC rule in favor of the Reibers, the decision could spell trouble for companies that build hard drives, and also for the companies that use hard drives in their products -- including manufacturers of external hard drives and RAID systems.

The ITC has until November 24 to set a deadline for its investigation.

Observer Comments

Show: Subjects Only | Full Comments

Close Name:geoduck Posts: 1915 Joined: 30 Dec 2003
Thu Oct 11, 2007 5:43 pm Subject: You're kidding

You mean they didn't include Apple in there? I was thinking that suing Apple was this years big fad.

Reply | Quote

Close Name:iJack Posts: 310 Joined: 13 Jun 2001
Thu Oct 11, 2007 11:10 pm Subject:

Apple doesn't manufacture hard drives. Why then, would they be included?

Reply | Quote

Close Name:Intruder - TMO Mac Specialist Posts: 3142 Joined: 07 Jul 2004
Fri Oct 12, 2007 12:10 am Subject:

Quote
iJack wrote:
Apple doesn't manufacture hard drives. Why then, would they be included?

I don't think H-P or Dell do, either. Why are they being looked at?

//didn't rtfa.

Reply | Quote

Close Name:geoduck Posts: 1915 Joined: 30 Dec 2003
Fri Oct 12, 2007 7:34 am Subject:

Quote
iJack wrote:
Apple doesn't manufacture hard drives. Why then, would they be included?

Just a rather sarcastic observation that it seems like everyone is suing Apple for anything they can think of.

Reply | Quote

Comment on this Article

Guest Posts Visible. Hide Them.
Back to top Page 1 of 1

You cannot edit your comments. You cannot delete your comments.

Recent Headlines - Updated Thursday, November 20th, 2008

Thu., 5:40 PM: iPodObserver - Safari Exploit Allows Hacker to Call 1-900 Numbers
4:55 PM: User Friendly Blog by Ted Landau - Deal or No Deal: Apple Edition
2:55 PM: Mac Gaming News - Blizzard Sets a New 1-Day Sales Record With Lich King
2:35 PM: iPodObserver - Man Sends Naughty Pics to Mistress, Blames iPhone
2:05 PM: Gaming News - GameRanger Adds PC Support
2:00 PM: Editorial - Times Are Tough Apple, How About Feeding Some Kids
1:45 PM: TMO's DealsOnTheWeb.com - Logitech V550 Nano Cordless Laser Mouse for Notebooks: $42.29 Delivered
1:30 PM: TMO Contest - Get Into Macworld Expo with Your Inner Bard
1:00 PM: Review - Bento 2
11:50 AM: Freeway 5.3 Converts Flash to QuickTime for iPhone
11:10 AM: iPodObserver - Rumor: More Labels to Go DRM-free at iTunes Store
10:30 AM: Hot Forum Topic - Mac Security and Drive Encryption
9:55 AM: OmniGraffle 5.1 Beefs Up Visio Compatibility
9:35 AM: iPodObserver - Microsoft Lets Zune Subscribers Keep Some Music
8:45 AM: DiscLabel 5.4 Adds Holiday, Business Templates
8:15 AM: OmniFocus 1.5 Adds Multi-Mac Syncing, More
7:35 AM: Apple TV Software Update 2.3 Adds AirTunes Support, More

The Mac Observer Reader Specials

Download Typestyler, still the Ultimate Styling Tool for Internet, Print and Video Graphics. Works great in Classic with a Native OS X Version on the way. Free Tryout: www.typestyler.com
Seagate 1TB 7200.11 7200RPM/32MB Cache SATA Drive $112 Hitachi 320GB 7200RPM/16MB Cache 2.5" SATA Drive $96. Samsung 500GB 5400RPM/8MB Cache 2.5" SATA Drive $138. ATA-SATA Internal External Firewire Drives & More. Click to Maximize your Macs...
Mac observers can now play Party Poker for Mac as well as Mac casino games by going to MacPokerOnline.com.
RamJet Memory: Mac Pro FB-DIMMs: 2Gig kit $95, 4Gig Kit $179, 8Gig Kit $355! MacBook 2Gig Kit $78, 4Gig Kit $149! Click here
For the latest Apple products use Ciao a comparison website to find laptops like MacBook Air. Then find the best prices on MP3 players and use our comparison tool to evaluate cell phones.
Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.

Special Report: iPhone
__________
Help TMO Grow
Macworld Expo - Hotel Deal
Podcast: Mac Geek Gab
Podcast: Apple Weekly Report
TMO on Twitter!

Apple Stock Quote

AAPL: $80.49. Change Today: -5.80.
(Prices delayed up to 20 minutes.)
Discuss in our Apple Finance Board

Hot Topics

What's the buzz? These articles have TMO readers talking.

Judge Dismisses Pystar Antitrust Claims Against Apple - (17 Comments)
Times Are Tough Apple, How About Feeding Some Kids - (15 Comments)
The Fastest Mac Compared to Today's Supercomputers - (13 Comments)
Another Christmas Arrives, Same Old Apple TV - (11 Comments)
Life With Microsoft Vista in Parallels Desktop 4 - (7 Comments)
Apple's DisplayPort Includes Digital Copy Protection - (7 Comments)

Top Deals From DealsOnTheWeb

© The Mac Observer, Inc. -- All rights reserved. All information presented on this site is copyrighted by The Mac Observer, Inc. except where otherwise noted. No portion of this site may be copied without express written consent. Other sites are invited to link to any aspect of this site provided that all content is presented in its original form and is not placed within another frame. The Mac Observer is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple, Inc.