Storage: Iomega Granted Preliminary Injunction Against Sale Of SyQuest SparQ Cartridges in France

Edge: Work-Group Computing Report, July 13, 1998

Iomega Corp. ("the Company") Tuesday announced that on Friday, July 3, 1998, the Paris District Court ruled in its favor, granting the Company's request for a preliminary injunction against SyQuest Technology Inc. and its French subsidiary SyQuest SARL.

The preliminary injunction requested by Iomega asked the Court to prevent the import and sale of SyQuest's SparQ cartridge in France because it infringed on one of Iomega's recently granted European patents.

Based on Iomega's demonstration that the SyQuest SparQ cartridges infringed on the European patent covering the anti-rattle mechanism found in Iomega's Jaz cartridges, the Paris District Court Judge ordered SyQuest to pay Iomega a damage penalty of 15,000 FF (US$2,500), for certain legal costs and to pay Iomega a 100 FF penalty (US $16.50) for each SparQ cartridge it sells after the injunction takes effect.

"This is another important demonstration of Iomega's intellectual property strength," said James E. Sierk, president and chief executive officer, Iomega Corp. "Iomega's proprietary technologies are among our greatest assets. We are very pleased with the French Court's swift recognition of our intellectual property rights and SyQuest's infringement on them. We are particularly pleased that the Court chose to penalize the infringer."

Iomega's preliminary injunction request also sought to enjoin import and sale of SyQuest's SparQ cartridge into the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy. The French Court did not grant this portion of the request. Iomega is not aware of any French Court having yet granted any party such pan-European relief in an intellectual property case.

Iomega Corp. manufactures personal read/write storage solutions that help people manage their stuff -- anywhere. Iomega's products provide consumers with what they want, when they want it, at a reasonable price.

The Company's storage solutions, designed for all types of computer users, include Zip drives and genuine Zip 100 disks; Jaz one- and two-gigabyte drives and disks; and Ditto tape backup drives and tape cartridges. Whether used in homes, business, government and education, or by creative professionals, all Iomega storage solutions ensure high levels of quality and reliability when using authorized Iomega media products.

FMI: http://www.iomega.com.