Western Digital is a name associated with difficult drives, storage, and anything with a spinning platter, with a brand recognition that many of its competitors would envy. But it looks like it will have to dig into its pockets and find a lot of change, as a California court has ruled that the company infringed on patents and is owed $262 million in damages.
In August 2022, MR Technologie (MRT) sued Western Digital, claiming that it infringed two patents filed by Dieter Seuss, professor and head of the Department of Functional Materials Physics at the University of Vienna — and owner of MRT (via Blocks and files).
The patents related to methods that raise the signal-to-noise ratio of HDDs by using anisotropic magnetic effects to lend a hand bits change direction. The lawsuit alleged that several Western Digital difficult drive products contained technology that infringed the patented techniques.
MRT’s lawyers reportedly accused WD of misusing these methods, which allowed the areal density on the difficult drives in question to be increased from 300 Gbit/sq in to 1,000 Gbit/sq in. According to the court transcript obtained by ReutersMRT’s legal counsel, Mark Fenster of Russ August & Kabat, said in his closing argument:
“Without leveraging these inventions, Western Digital would not be able to compete in the marketplace.”
Western Digital said it will appeal the ruling “as soon as possible.”
For a company with estimated net worth $20.86 billion since Aug. 16 of this year, collecting $262 million in damages may seem like a drop in the ocean. That said, the accusation that Western Digital infringed on patents to compete in the storage market will sting, and it’s likely that WD will do everything in its power to try to remove that unsightly mark from its name. Just when you thought spinning difficult drives were lifeless, huh?
