BlackBerry being sued for allegedly infringing on flash memory patent

BlackBerry seems to be getting hit with a lot of legal actions these days. The latest is a patent lawsuit in which BlackBerry, Apple, Motorola, Huawei and ZTE are being pulled into a patent infringement case by Handal & Associates on behalf of e.Digital. The case is based on a patent that e.Digital holds for flash memory technologies.

The patents on question are a part of e.Digital’s Flash-R patent portfolio. Here is what a representative from Handal & Associates has to say about the case.

“We have examined hundreds of products to determine whether they infringe e.Digital’s patents. We have found that several products utilize core technologies that belong to and are patented by e.Digital,” said Anton Handal, counsel for e.Digital. “The Flash-R patent portfolio is rich in technologies and teachings that are central to the functionality of many current consumer electronics products. Among these is the noise cancellation claims of the ’108 patent, which, generally speaking, teach the use of two microphones in handheld devices to reduce background noise. We are also seeing the use of file editing functionalities in these products that are embodied in the ’170 patent,” he added. “In addition, we are seeing many flash-based devices utilizing a memory integrity technology that was originally patented by e.Digital. Determining memory integrity is very important technology in today’s highly-integrated consumer electronics products,” Handal stated.

We will keep our eye on this one, but you can imagine that since quite a few big names are involved in this patent case it will not likely make its way to court.