Court: HP Infringes on EMC Software Patents

   After a two-week trial, a US District Court jury has ruled in favor of EMC in a case that involves patent infringement by HP. According to the judgment, the HP OpenView Continuous Access Storage Appliance infringes on EMC patents that are related to remote and local mirroring functions and used in EMC's Symmetrix Remote Data Facility (SRDF) and TimeFinder software products. The verdict reaffirmed the three EMC patents despite prior art cited by HP. As a result of the jury's decision, EMC is now seeking an injunction to stop HP from shipping products that contain the patented technology. How the ruling will affect HP customers is unclear. "HP disagrees with the jury's decision of infringement of the EMC patents asserted against HP," said Brian Garabedian, an HP spokesman, but is "prepared to take whatever steps necessary to minimize the potential impact to existing customers and channel partners."
   EMC originally filed the patent case against StorageApps in October 2000. HP acquired StorageApps in July 2001. EMC and HP are also involved in other patent litigation related to software and hardware in EMC's Symmetrix and Clariion products. That case is scheduled to go to trial next year.