Joel Bainerman

EE Times

(03/09/2006 4:19 PM EST)

RAMAT GAN, Israel — M-Systems, a developer of data storage products based on flash memory, has been sued for alleged patent infringement in Tel Aviv district court by another Israeli company, Ceedo Technologies.

Creedo Technologies developed a new technique for appliances and computers to communicate. The memory-based technology enables portable appliances to become autonomous. Ceedo`s move counters an earlier lawsuit by M-Systems in January 2005 alleging that Ceedo copied key components of M-System’s user interface.

Ceedo claims it contacted M-Systems and showed it an innovative way to run applications on M-Systems hardware based on a method it developed earlier. In mid-2004, the two companies began cooperating.

According to court documents, M-Systems soon saw the value in the method and ended the joint project with Ceedo. Then, Ceedo claims, M-Systems reverse engineered the technology.

Ceedo claims that M-Systems not only stole its technology but bad-mouthed Ceedo to drive down it market value.