Western Digital (WDC.US) hit with patent infringement lawsuits, ordered to pay over US$570 million in two months

Western Digital (WDC.US) has been ordered by a federal court jury in California to pay $315.7 million in damages for infringing patents held by SPEX Technologies in several of its self-encrypting hard drives, according to a verdict issued on Monday. SPEX Technologies filed a lawsuit in 2016, claiming it bought patents involving data encryption innovations from Spyrus. Western Digital said it disagreed with the verdict and planned to challenge it and, if necessary, appeal. The company's Ultrastar, My Book and My Passport data storage devices were also alleged to infringe the patent, but Western Digital denied the accusations. Notably, a different jury in the same court in July found Western Digital liable for infringing another company's patent and ordered it to pay more than $262 million in damages.

Lawyers for SPEX Technologies said in an email that the verdict confirmed that Western Digital's products infringed its patent. SPEX Technologies, based in San Jose, California, is supported by Sue Pontius, a co-founder of Spyrus, who thanked the jury for its decision. Marc Fenster, SPEX's chief counsel, said the verdict vindicated Pontius and her perseverance.

Western Digital's spokesperson said the company disagreed with the verdict and planned to challenge it in a post-trial motion, and if necessary, appeal. Several of Western Digital's data storage device brands were alleged to infringe SPEX Technologies' patent in the lawsuit, but Western Digital strongly denied those accusations.

Earlier in July, a different jury in the same court found Western Digital liable for infringing another patent related to increasing the storage capacity of hard drives and ordered it to pay more than $262 million in damages. The back-to-back legal challenges have been a major blow to Western Digital, and underscore the importance of patent rights in the data storage and encryption technology sectors.