From: Netac Author: alex.huang

On June 7, Netac Technology Co., Ltd won in the first instance trial the litigation against Fu Kuang Hui Electronic Co., Ltd (Shenzhen), the manufacturing base of TAI GUEN ENTERPRISE CO. LTD (TGE group) and Beijing Huaqi Information and Digital Technology Co. Ltd, for violating Netac patent right in USB flash drive.

According to the court sentence, Fu Kuang Hui Electronic Co., Ltd (Shenzhen), the manufacturing base of TAI GUEN ENTERPRISE CO. LTD (TGE group) and Huaqi 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 gap of Chinese patent 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 60% of the USB flash drive used globally.

On the time of expressing his gratitude that IP of Netac was finally recognized and protected, Frank Deng, the CEO 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 or supply chain to the world.

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 loss due to patents infringement. If the violators were not punished in a long run, Netac is hard to maintain its momentum in technological innovation. This verdict is just in time.

With the approved five core patents in USB flash drive field, Netac secure its leadership position in R&D, supply and distribution of USB flash disk with its strength of IP which most companies don't have. According to Mr. Deng, over 100 invention patents will be applied this year; more and more innovative products will be introduced to the market for this booming industry.