OAKDALE, Minn., Oct. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Imation Corp today announced that it has filed a Declaratory Judgment Action in the Federal District Court in St. Paul, Minn., requesting that the court resolve an ongoing dispute with Philips Electronics N.V., U.S. Philips Corporation, and North American Philips Corporation (collectively "Philips"). The action requests that the court reaffirm Imation's cross-licensing rights related to various optical products, including recordable and rewritable CD and DVD discs, based on a long-standing agreement between Imation and Philips.
Imation's cross-licensing agreement with Philips allows Imation to make, have made and sell various optical media products including CD and DVD discs. Based on Imation's cross-licensing rights under the existing agreement, Imation's action asks the court to stop Philips' recent attempts to interfere with Imation's ongoing business relationships with its customers and suppliers.
"Imation's technology leadership in optical storage goes back decades, and our customers worldwide rely on Imation to supply them with top-quality CDs and DVDs. There will be absolutely no disruption to this supply," said Frank Russomanno, executive vice president and chief operating officer, Imation. "We are disappointed that Philips has recently tried to interfere with Imation's optical partners despite the existing cross-license agreement and despite ongoing discussions with Philips. As a technology leader with a broad portfolio of intellectual property, and one of the innovators that helped develop a roadmap to the optical storage formats in use today, Imation vigorously supports the valid enforcement of licensing and IP rights. We simply want Philips to abide by their agreement with us."
The Imation complaint seeks a Declaratory Judgment recognizing: the existence of the Imation-Philips patent cross-license; that the cross-license applies to Imation's subsidiaries, including Global Data Media; and that the cross-license covers a variety of optical products irrespective of brand, including CD and DVD discs.
About Imation Corp
Imation Corp is the only company in the world solely focused on the development, manufacture and supply of removable data storage products spanning the four pillars of magnetic, optical, flash and removable hard disk storage. With more than 50 years of data storage leadership beginning with the development of the world's first computer tape, Imation proudly marks its 10th anniversary as an independent company. In addition to the Imation brand, Imation Corp's global brand portfolio includes the Memorex brand, one of the most widely recognized names in the consumer electronics industry, famous for the slogan, "Is it live or is it Memorex?(TM)" Additional information about Imation is available at http://www.imation.com/ or by calling 1-888-466-3456.
Imation, the Imation logo, Memorex, the Memorex logo, and 'Is it live or is it Memorex?' are trademarks of Imation Corp and its subsidiaries. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.
