Western Digital is a name synonymous with hard drives, system storage, and all things spinny-platter, with the sort of brand recognition many of its competitors must envy. It looks like its going to have to reach into its pockets and find a considerable amount of spare change, however, as a Californian jury has decided that the company has violated patent rights, and owes damages to the tune of $262m.
The patents referred to methods that increase the signal to noise ratio in a HDD by using anisotropy magnetic effects to help bits change direction. The lawsuit alleged that several of Western Digital's hard drive products contained technology that infringed the patented techniques. Western Digital attorney Douglas Lumish disagreed:"MRT's lawyers have given false credit, to a fairly magnificent extent, to Dr. Suess for the work of thousands of engineers over decades and across the planet."The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware dealsContact me with news and offers from other Future brandsas of August 16 this year, rustling up $262m in damages may seem like a drop in the ocean.