Lexar wins $380 Million against Toshiba
Lexar wins big money ($380 Million) from a california jury on a case against Toshiba violating trade secrets.
Fremont, CA, March 23, 2005 -- Lexar Media, Inc. (Nasdaq:LEXR), a leading marketer and manufacturer of high-performance digital media and accessories, today announced that after a six week trial, the jury found Toshiba Corporation (JP:6502) and Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc. (PNK:TOSBF.PK) liable of breach of fiduciary duty and theft of trade secrets and awarded Lexar over $380 million in damages.
The jury also found that Toshiba's and TAEC's actions were oppressive, fraudulent or malicious, which supports an award of punitive damages. Evidence and argument will be presented to the jury tomorrow on the amount of punitive damages.
"The implications of this verdict to the flash memory industry are enormous and we appreciate that the jury took the time to understand difficult technical issues and to consider a wealth of evidence," said Eric Whitaker, executive vice president and general counsel, Lexar. "This verdict validates Lexar's core intellectual property and contributions to the flash memory industry. It holds Toshiba accountable for its conduct - building Lexar's trust to acquire our technology and then betraying that trust to partner with our competitor and compete against us. It sends a clear message to Toshiba that this type of corporate conduct will not be tolerated - as a strategic partner and board member, Toshiba was required to act with the utmost good faith and fell far short of that standard."
During the six-week trial, the jury heard over 4,000 pages of testimony and examined almost 400 exhibits. Lexar's evidence was based in large part on Toshiba's own internal documents that had previously been confidential within Toshiba. Key witnesses at the trial included Lexar's founders, Petro Estakhri and Mike Assar, Toshiba senior executives Hideo Ito, Yoshihide Fujii and Kiyoshi Kobayashi, and SanDisk (Nasdaq: SNDK) top executives Eli Harari and Sanjay Mehrotra.
Toshiba's defense rested in large part on the argument that the disputed technology had been independently developed by Toshiba. The jury rejected that argument, recognizing Lexar's important contributions to the development of NAND flash memory, particularly high performance system designs. These trade secrets included Lexar's inventions regarding critical flash functions such as Parallel Write, Internal Page Copy, Pipelining, and Superblocks, aspects of which are also now the subject of multiple U.S. and foreign patents, including U.S. Patents 5,907,856; 6,034,897; 6,040,997; 6,081,878; 6,141,249 and 6,374,337.
Remaining Issues Lexar's claim for unfair competition, based on California Business and Professions Code Section 17200 was not given to the jury and will be decided by the Court. Lexar expects that the Court will rule on that claim as well as on anticipated post-trial motions shortly after a hearing currently scheduled for April 13, 2005.
Based on the jury's verdict and findings, Lexar intends to ask the Court for an injunction that bars the sale of Toshiba's products in the United States. Lexar will ask that the injunction include products that have been found to incorporate Lexar's trade secrets, including Toshiba's large and small block NAND flash chips, its CompactFlash, Secure Digital and xD Picture Card products. Though the length of the injunction will be determined by the Court, during the trial, there was testimony that it could take as long as eighteen months to implement the types of features Lexar disclosed to Toshiba. Lexar expects that the Court will hold a hearing on Lexar's request for an injunction on April 13, 2005.
Lexar was represented by Weil, Gotshal and Manges. Lexar's lead trial counsel was Matt Powers who was assisted at trial by David Ball, Perry Clark, Chris Cox, David Healey and Anita Kadala and an experienced trial team. They were also assisted by their associates Rip Finst, Ira Hatton, Sven Raz and Archana Bhuta. The trial took place in the Superior Court for the State of California, County of Santa Clara and was encaptioned Lexar Media, Inc. v. Toshiba Corporation.
Patent Case Proceeding
Lexar's case for patent infringement against Toshiba on more than ten of its patents remains pending in Federal Court. In January, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California issued a claim construction ruling that will have considerable impact on the case as it proceeds toward trial. The ruling arose from a special proceeding required under U.S. patent law called a 'Markman hearing,' where both sides present their arguments to the court as to how they believe certain claims at issue in the lawsuit should be interpreted. In the ruling, the Court construed several key terms in Lexar's favor, rejecting several of Toshiba's attempts to avoid infringement of Lexar's patents.
Lexar believes that the Markman hearing ruling affirms its assertion that Toshiba infringes substantial elements of our patented technology. During the hearing, the Court interpreted fourteen terms in six Lexar patents, including U.S. Patent Nos. 5,479,638 entitled "Flash Memory Mass Storage Architecture Incorporation Wear Leveling Technique"; 6,145,051 entitled "Moving Sectors Within Block of Information in a Flash Memory Mass Storage Architecture"; 6,397,314 "Increasing The Memory Performance Of Flash Memory Devices By Writing Sectors Simultaneously To Multiple Flash Memory Device"; 6,202,138 "Increasing The Memory Performance Of Flash Memory Devices By Writing Sectors Simultaneously To Multiple Flash"; 6,262,918 "Space Management For Managing High Capacity Nonvolatile Memory"; and 6,040,997 "Flash Memory Leveling Architecture Having No External Latch."
Discovery has now begun in the patent case. Lexar alleges that Toshiba infringes more than ten of Lexar's 82 worldwide patents, including U.S. Patent Nos. 5,479,638; 5,818,781; 5,907,856; 5,930,815; 6,034,897; 6,040,997; 6,134,151; 6,141,249; 6,145,051; 6,172,906; 6,202,138; 6,262,918; 6,374,337; and 6,397,314. Lexar is seeking damages as well as an injunction against Toshiba for those Toshiba products that infringe Lexar's patents, including its flash memory chips, flash cards and digital cameras.
About Lexar Media, Inc.
Lexar is a leading marketer and manufacturer of flash memory cards, USB flash drives, card readers and ATA controller technology for the digital photography, consumer electronics, industrial and communications markets. The company holds over 78 issued or allowed controller and system patents, and licenses its technology to companies including Olympus, Samsung Electronics, SanDisk and Sony. For more information, please call 1-800-789-9418 or visit www.lexar.com.
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Comments
Lexar Media, Inc. and FBI should check all Japanese employees of Lexar and formerly, Cirrus Logic, Inc.
California Court admirably found Toshiba's malfeasance to Lexar Media, Inc on Mar 24, 2005 Flash memory trial. Then Toshiba Corp didn't mind-control jury samely as 1999 PC FDC trial case.
However, I care Toshiba Corp will mass-mind-control Americans and Japanese on Apr 13, 2005 because Lexar seeks a court injunction stopping the sale of Toshiba products using its flash memory. In 1999 PC FDC trial case, people were mass-mind-controlled and gave Toshiba Corp simpathy without watching Toshiba's concealing and later Americans reduced the punishment although we should know Toshiba Corp is different especially far from other Japanese companies or Toshiba employees are not company persons but criminals.
Toshiba Corp might have mass-mind-controlled because the punishment $465.4 million was less than half the $1 billion sought by Lexar.
I believe Toshiba Corp thieved trade secrets of Lexar Media, Inc. (formerly, Cirrus Logic, Inc.) as Lexar alleges.
And I have believed Toshiba Corp mind-controlled to win at Medical Dr. Honda v. Toshiba Corp Japanese Trial around Dec 2003 because around 2001 NY Times reported the affair about endoscope and soon Toshiba Corp joined rival Olympus or an another and Toshiba Corp stopped to sell it.
I give you a fact. Toshiba (R&D) employee Syunsuke Migita, 28 and his 2 older co-workers of NEC Toshiba Space Systems Ltd hacked and formerly Japanese Space Agency NASDA's computer to steal Mitsubishi Electric's confidential document for NASDA's satellite Winds on Dec 12, 2001 were arrested May 30, 2002 and only Migita was guilty on Sep 6, 2002. (Migita would do it to show NEC employees because every Toshiba persons could get secrets by Toshiba's remote-sensing and NASDA had many Toshiba spies like Mr. Nobuto Yoshioka.)
Lexar and FBI should check whether all Japanese employees of Lexar Media, Inc. and formerly, Cirrus Logic, Inc. were Toshiba spies like Eikou Harada. Toshiba Corp could send Japanese spies to Lexar Media, Inc. (formerly, Cirrus Logic, Inc.) before and after the Oct 1994 contact with Cirrus Logic, Inc.
Also all Toshiba partners including SanDisk Corp should do samething as potential sufferers from Toshiba Corp.
Sony's PlayStation II (sold in 2000) has Toshiba's LSI. Toshiba Corp made Sony's PC (sold in 2001) as electronics mamufacturing service (EMS). Apple Computer's iPod (sold in 2004) has Toshiba's HDD. The booms are by Toshiba's mind-control.
Apple Computer's iPod Shuffle (1G) has Toshiba's Flash memory and the boom is coming since Jan 11, 2005. (iPod Mini has Hitachi's HDD and iPod Shuffle (512M) has Samsung's Flash memory. It would be to conceal Toshiba's spying. Apple Computer, Inc would join Blu-ray Disc side on Mar 10, 2005 and then how much might Blu-ray Disc side have to pay to Apple Computer for it ? I believe Mr. Eikou Harada was a Toshiba's industrial spy on Apple Computer, Inc and now he is an executive of McDonalds of Japan (as a Toshiba's spy.))
Yen depreciation continues. Toshiba Corp - hungry for money - will sell more in USA. 2005 is most important ever for the crazy company to sell HD DVD, SED TV and nuclear power equipments.
I am knowing mind-control is common sense for power persons. For World Peace, only Pravda and Dr. Igor Smirnov of Russia positively inform it among major media and top scientists in the World. (I am not a communist.)
Pravda reported former Russian President Yeltsin knew mind-control at "Psychic security department protects Russian presidents from external psychological influence" on Jan 6, 2005.
http://english.pravda.ru/main/18/90/362/14790_psychic.html
- Americans have created radiators of modulated signals, which control people's behavior thousands of kilometers from afar.
Additionally but I believe Japanese cheated Yeltsin for the Northern Territories Problem between Russia and Japan in 1993 and 1998 in Japan and in 1997 in Russia. (1997 is important.) (Naturally I think Golbachov was cheated in 1991 in Japan too.)
Russian President Putin isn't cheated now.
I think Putin knows mind-control more than Yeltsin.
Russian Dr. Igor Smirnov's "Mind control: The Zombie Effect" (Nov 10, 2004).
http://english.pravda.ru/science/19/94/379/14567_.html
- Methods of latent impact on the human psyche are no longer secret.
Also I read "JOHN FLEMING: THE SHOCKING MENACE OF SATELLITE SURVEILLANCE FULL VERSION OF THE ARTICLE" (Jul 14, 2001).
http://english.pravda.ru/main/2001/07/14/10131.html
- Mr. John Fleming is an American journalist. He is the author of The War of All Against All: An Analysis of Conflict in Society (International Scholars Publications, 2000).
Mr. John Fleming suggested as a good man that Americans will unfairly see me an neurotic. Will it be true ?
Nevertheless, Toshiba Corp (Japan) moves Dollar-Yen rate by Mind-Control since around 1997. In fact, many workers of Toshiba Information Equipments Co (TIE) mind-controls anyone, anywhere, anytime. (I believed many Japanese might notice it since 2003. - Toshiba Corp is so crazy.)
I have been an Mind-Control Victim by Toshiba Information Equipments Co (TIE) and Toshiba Corp sometimes abusively since Nov 1997 in my unconsciousness and 24 hrs everyday fatally since Dec 1, 1999 in my consciousness.
Lexar and California State will be given thousands of pretending e-mails by many crazy Toshiba persons. Some of them are here at http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=2&id=331820. I'm afraid that Toshiba Corp can give various mind-control abuse also to Lexar and can steal proof for the trial in Lexar and Lexar lawyers' offices. Therefore, Toshiba Corp has secret corporate police OogiKai to spy, abuse and dominate its employees since 1969 as Toshiba executive Takeshi Iida partially has admitted the OogiKai fact since Jun 26, 2002 Toshiba Stockholder Conference.
And Toshiba stock price in Tokyo market has no minus impact after Mar 23 and 24, 2005 and rather, rised on Apr 8, 2005, before Apr 13, 2005, while Toshiba Corp was punished with $380 million and $84 million (about 48.8 billion yen) and Toshiba's net profit will be 45 billion yen in Final ended Mar 31, 2005, like I strongly believe it is mind-controlled since 2000. Toshiba Corp will mind-control to win Apr 13, 2005 Trial.
by (Mr.) Seitaro Kanamaru, a Japanese
I am an Mind-Control Victim by Toshiba Corp since 1997.
http://www.perc.ca/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=794
Posted by Seitaro Kanamaru on 21:23, April 11 2005
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