Network Appliance Sues Sun Micro over Storage Patents

On Wednesday, Network Appliance threw down the gauntlet. NetApp filed suit against Sun Microsystems, claiming that Sun’s storage software in Solaris violates seven NetApp patents. In addition, NetApp is seeking a declaration that it is not infringing on three of Sun’s patents — and that the patents in question are invalid.NetApp’s move comes in the wake of what the company perceives as Sun’s “prolonged and aggressive claims” against it. Sun’s demand for NetApp to license some of its intellectual property caused the company to examine the issue more closely, NetApp said. Its conclusion? Sun’s ZFS technology infringes several NetApp patents.

“We firmly believe that everyone is best served by fair and responsible treatment of intellectual property,” stated Dave Hitz, founder and executive vice president of Network Appliance. “What concerns us is that through its distribution of ZFS under its own terms and conditions, Sun is unfairly encouraging others to adopt and distribute the infringing technology without informing them of our applicable patents.”

Click here to read the rest of this story on NewsFactor.

Add comment September 7th, 2007