On June 7, Netac Technology Co., Ltd won in the first instance trial the litigation against Beijing Huaqi Information and Digital Technology Co. Ltd, the brand holder of aigo, for violating Netac patent right in USB flash drive.
According to the court sentence, Huaqi and its OEM partner, Fu Kuang Hui Electronic Co., Ltd (Shenzhen), the factory of TAI GUEN ENTERPRISE CO. LTD (TGE group) have violated the Netac ZL99117225.6 patent right. The two defendants shall stop the manufacturing and sales of USB flash drive and compensate to Netac RMB 500, 000; Fu Kuang Hui Electronic Co., Ltd, in a separate case, shall compensate to Netac RMB500, 000.
As the world's leading company in mobile storage and wireless communication, Netac invented in 1999 the first USB flash drive in the world (registered trademark: OnlyDiskTM), and was awarded the fundamental invention patent: "flash electronic external storage method and devices for data processing system". This patent filled in the twenty-year blank of Chinese patents in computer storage area for 20 years. Since then, the company has been awarded four more fundamental patents by the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China.
Experts in intellectual property (IP) say that the ruling of Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court in IP cases is known for being just, none of which was rejected by the final trial. The sentence literally exiles the three companies out of the USB flash drive market. They stand little chance to change this situation even if they appeal.
This ruling is said to have great impact on the future of the world USB flash drive market, since Chinese manufacturers accounts for more than 50% of the USB flash drive used globally, among which Huaqi and Fu Kuang Hui are two major forces.
Despite expressing his gratitude that IP of Netac was finally recognized and protected, Deng Guoshun, the president of Netac, said that the "door for cooperation is always open", eliminating the fear that Netac is going to monopolize the Chinese USB flash drive market.
According to Lu Pan, the Legal Department Director, Netac has invested more than RMB 60 million into the research of USB flash drive technology. Since 1999, Netac suffered hundreds of millions due to patent violation. If the violators were not punished in a long run, Netac would not be able to maintain its momentum in technological innovation. The sentence is just in time.

from Netac