Western Digital Corporation Renews Patent Cross-License Agreement with Samsung
December 06 2016 - 4:35PM
Business Wire
Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: WDC), a world leader in
storage technologies and solutions, today announced that it has
signed a definitive royalty-bearing agreement with Samsung
Electronics Co., Ltd. to renew the cross-license of the two
companies’ semiconductor patent portfolios. The terms of the
renewed agreement are retroactive to the end date of the prior
agreement, which expired on August 14, 2016. The renewed agreement
will run through December 31, 2024.
The agreement includes rights to each party's patents broadly
covering multi-level cell flash memory and flash storage systems.
The original agreement, which dates back to 1997 and had been
renewed twice before, had permitted Samsung to use patented flash
memory technologies invented by SanDisk, which Western Digital
acquired in May 2016.
The agreement recognizes the strength and value of each
company’s intellectual property and enables Western Digital to
continue to focus on developing and exploring uses for
next-generation flash technology. At the time of its acquisition by
Western Digital, SanDisk had been a leading innovator in flash
technology for nearly thirty years, investing billions of dollars
in research and development globally to design, manufacture, and
bring flash products to market. This agreement allows Western
Digital to continue to realize the value of the SanDisk acquisition
and extends the company’s mutually beneficial relationship with
Samsung. Financial terms of the renewed agreement were not
disclosed.
About Western Digital
Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: WDC) is an industry-leading
provider of storage technologies and solutions that enable people
to create, leverage, experience and preserve data. The company
addresses ever-changing market needs by providing a full portfolio
of compelling, high-quality storage solutions with customer-focused
innovation, high efficiency, flexibility and speed. Our products
are marketed under the HGST, SanDisk and WD brands to OEMs,
distributors, resellers, cloud infrastructure providers and
consumers. For more information, please visit www.hgst.com,
www.wd.com, and www.sandisk.com.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995, including statements regarding the company’s plans for
developing-next-generation flash technology and realizing the value
of the SanDisk acquisition. These forward-looking statements are
based on management’s current expectations and are subject to risks
and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking
statements, including volatility in global economic conditions;
business conditions and growth in the storage ecosystem; impact of
competitive products and pricing; market acceptance and cost of
commodity materials and specialized product components; actions by
competitors; unexpected advances in competing technologies; our
development and introduction of products based on new technologies
and expansion into new data storage markets; risks associated with
acquisitions, mergers and joint ventures; difficulties or delays in
manufacturing; and other risks and uncertainties listed in the
company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the
"SEC"), including the company’s Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on
Nov. 8, 2016, to which your attention is directed. The company
undertakes no obligation to update the information in this release
in the event facts or circumstances change after the date of this
release.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161206006352/en/
Western Digital Corp.Media Contact:Jim
Pascoe408.717.6999jim.pascoe@wdc.comorInvestor Contact:Bob
Blair949.672.7834robert.blair@wdc.com
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