News Releases

04/17/2002

Hitachi Files a Patent Infringement Lawsuit Against EMC Corp.

Apr 17, 2002 16:17 PM

TOKYO, Japan and NORMAN, Oklahoma -- April 17, 2002 -- Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE:HIT/ TSE: 6501) and Hitachi Computer Products (America) Inc., today announced that they filed a patent infringement lawsuit against EMC Corporation in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma. The complaint alleges that certain EMC data storage systems, including products in both EMC's Symmetrix and CLARiiON product lines, infringe eight patents owned by Hitachi, Ltd. and Hitachi Computer Products (America), Inc. The suit also seeks an injunction against the future sale of these EMC products.

Last Thursday, EMC filed infringement litigation against Hitachi, Ltd. and Hitachi Data Systems Corporation at the U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington and in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, alleging that Hitachi's competitive products infringe six EMC patents.

Isao Ono, Senior Corporate Officer and Senior Group Executive, Information Business Group of Hitachi, Ltd. said: "Since EMC has chosen to compete in the courtroom rather than in the marketplace, Hitachi has no choice but to fight back with its own extensive patent portfolio in this field. Hitachi will hold EMC fully accountable for infringing Hitachi patents."

Hitachi has been providing leading-edge data storage products and services since 1967 and has one of the world's largest R&D programs, which has generated more than 1,200 issued U.S. patents in the data storage field.

Hitachi Computer Products (America) Inc. manufactures data-storage equipment in Norman, Oklahoma.

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.

Hitachi Computer Products (America), Inc., a subsidiary of Hitachi America, Ltd., is a supplier of systems and solutions, including disk arrays through a manufacturing facility in Norman, Oklahoma. For more information on Hitachi Computer Products (America), Inc., please visit http://www.hitachiomd.com .

Hitachi Data Systems is a leading supplier of storage hardware, software, solutions and services. As a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., HDS is committed to providing the technological infrastructure for the world's most information-intensive corporations. With 2,600 employees, Hitachi Data Systems does business in the public and private sectors in 170 countries on six continents, including the rapidly emerging economies in Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe. Its customers include more than 50 percent of Fortune 100 companies, and all of the major Storage Service Providers (SSPs). For more information, please visit the HDS Web site at www.hds.com.