Hitachi Comments on EMC Allegations
Apr 16, 2002 10:53 AM
NEW YORK, April 16, 2002 -- Apparently unwilling to compete head-to-head in the market place, on April 11, EMC filed infringement litigation against Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE: HIT) and Hitachi Data Systems Corp. at the U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington and in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, alleging that Hitachi's data storage products infringe 6 EMC patents. Hitachi believes EMC's allegations are without merit and will vigorously defend its products.
Hitachi has long been a leader in the information technology and, since 1967, Hitachi has been a major contributor to the development of data storage . Its products are widely accepted in a variety of manufacturing, service and financial industries, with thousands of customers in the U.S. and worldwide. Consistent with its leadership position, since 1993, Hitachi has supplied leading-edge products and services in the disk array field - its customers have enjoyed generations of successful Hitachi products for their business benefits in this free and fair competition market.
Hitachi's leadership in innovation also has been well recognized. Its investment in one of the world's largest R&D programs has been rewarded by the issuance of more than 1,200 U.S. patents in the field of data storage. As the owner of such a significant patent portfolio, the Company has always respected the legitimate intellectual property of others - it believes it has done so here and that EMC's actions serve only to hinder fair competition in the market and harm the interests of consumers.
Isao Ono, Senior Corporate Officer and Senior Group Executive, Information Business Group of Hitachi, Ltd., stated that "Hitachi's first priority is to defend the interests of its customers. It is consumers who benefit from fair competition, and Hitachi is committed to providing that competition to the marketplace with best of breed superior products and services while continuing to respect the intellectual property of all competitors." He continued, "It is unfortunate that EMC has chosen to compete in the courtroom rather than in the marketplace."
Hitachi, Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is one of the world's leading global electronics companies, with fiscal 2000 (ended March 31, 2001) consolidated sales of 8,417 billion yen ($67.9 billion*). The company manufactures and markets a wide range of products, including computers, semiconductors, consumer products and power and industrial equipment. For more information on Hitachi, Ltd., please visit Hitachi's Web site at http://www.hitachi.com.
* At an exchange rate of 124 yen to the dollar.