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US may ban import of HDDs
Author: Phil CogarPublished: 12th October 2007
No more HDDs coming into the US? You'd better hope the price of SSDs decreases soon then!
The complaint was filed by California residents Steven and Mary Reiber under section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930, which bans importing of goods that infringe on patents held by US citizens or companies.
If the investigation conclusively finds that the companies are in violation of the patent, the ITC could issue a cease-and-desist on the importation of the drives. The companies involved either manufacture the drives in question or sell products that contain them.
All could not be lost though. Even if the ITC rules against the five companies, an appeal in the US Court of Appeals or a veto by President Bush could overturn the decision. Qualcomm found itself in the same situation earlier this year when Broadcom accused the company of infringing on its patents for managing power consumption. The ITC issued a ban on importing mobile devices that used Qualcomm's chips but this was later overturned by the US Court of Appeals.
A reform of the US patent system has been called for by many over the last few years and the idea is currently making its way around the White House. A new bill was passed by the House of Representatives last month to update the law in a number of areas.
Which direction do you think this one will head in? Will the ITC ban the said hard drives or will they let it slip through the cracks due to the overwhelming need and use of them? Discuss your thoughts over in the forums.
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Comments (27)
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Or is this October Fools day.
what patent did they infringe upon?
I was actually thinking about this as well !!!
Could it be something to do with its platter technology.
Also, does this only apply to 3.5inc HDD or 2.5 HDDs as well!
Seagate, Western Digital, Toshiba, Dell, and Hewlett-Packard.
Dell and HP I did not know they manufactured HDDs! :? :?
Then how will this affect Sony PSP and MS Xbox.
things to whine about .the people that started this lawsuit must
have something to gain.
god im glad i am in the uk! sounds like a load of BS!
patents here http://www.freepatentsonline.com/6354479.html
and here http://www.freepatentsonline.com/6935548.html
sounds like it applies to more than just harddrives
All the HP (well, actually Compaq) drives i have seen so far have been made by someone else. I have a drive here from Compaq that says "manufactured by IBM". I also have a drive from about the same time that is from IBM, that says "manufactured for IBM by Seagate"...
Now days IBM drives are the same as Hitachi IIRC. And Maxtor is a part of Seagate.
I guess that leaves us with Seagate, Hitachi and Western Digital. (unsure what Toshiba actually is, though..)
But, I would seriously doubt they would institute a ban on hard drive imports that would otherwise cripple major and minor PC manufacturers in the US.
In the white house,
Bush, "Heh, Heh." "Whats a hard drive?" "A compooter do hickey?" "I thought it was a a boner or a very Hard-Drive!" :( Got to work on that one.
Sooooooooo, Or fate lies, ONCE AGAIN, in the hands of a complete moron! AHH ****! :( Or a multi million dollar settlement. :?
Why the hell doesn't some body rid us of this IQ -189 dumb **** and let a real leader take over. I hate you Texas and all your people for having made him and voted for him.
This only means that those two people will be sought after by, m.............a mysterious assassin. Because they are the sole reason HDD's will take a huge Price Sike.
99$ each plz :)
lmao
I think business will suffer more considering that every business depends on hard drives.