IRVINE, Calif., and
ARMONK, N.Y., Jan. 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Western
Digital (NASDAQ: WDC) today announced that it has acquired more
than 100 patent assets from IBM (NYSE: IBM). The parties also
entered into a patent cross-license agreement. Terms of the
transaction were not disclosed.
Patents acquired by Western Digital are in distributed storage,
object storage, and emerging non-volatile memory. Western Digital
expects the IP to further strengthen its technology leadership
position and drive value creation for the company and its
customers. The patents will augment Western Digital's existing
portfolio of more than 10,000 patents and patent
applications.
"This agreement reflects our continued focus on innovation and
sets the stage for even more rapid advancement and
commercialization of new data storage solutions," said Mike Cordano, president and chief operating
officer, Western Digital. "We are building on Western Digital and
IBM's long-standing relationship and look forward to future
collaborations and business opportunities."
"This agreement with Western Digital illustrates the value of
patented IBM inventions and demonstrates our leadership in
licensing access to our broad patent portfolio. We look forward to
a productive relationship with Western Digital," said William LaFontaine, general manager,
intellectual property for IBM.
IBM has led the annual list of U.S. patent recipients for 23
consecutive years. More information about IBM's patent leadership
is available at: http://ibm.co/1hLSj8W.
About Western Digital
Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: WDC) is an industry-leading
developer and manufacturer of storage solutions that enable people
to create, leverage, experience and preserve data. The company
addresses ever-changing market needs by providing a full portfolio
of compelling, high-quality storage solutions with effective
technology deployment, high efficiency, flexibility and speed. Our
products are marketed under the HGST and WD brands to OEMs,
distributors, resellers, cloud infrastructure providers and
consumers. For more information, please visit www.hgst.com and
www.wd.com.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. These forward-looking statements are based on management's
current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties
that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements, including
the possibility that the charges or cash expenditures may be in
excess of the estimated amounts or may occur in different fiscal
periods than expected; volatility in global economic conditions;
business conditions and growth in the storage ecosystem; pricing
trends and fluctuations in average selling prices; the availability
and cost of commodity materials and specialized product components;
unexpected advances in competing technologies; the development and
introduction of products based on new technologies and expansion
into new data storage markets; actions by competitors; and other
risks and uncertainties in the Company's filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed on Nov.
10, 2015. You should not place undue reliance on these
forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof,
and the Company undertakes no obligation to update these
forward-looking statements to reflect new information or
circumstances.
Western Digital, WD and the WD logo are registered trademarks in
the U.S. and other countries. HGST trademarks are intended and
authorized for use only in countries and jurisdictions in which
HGST has obtained the rights to use, market and advertise the
brand. Other marks may be mentioned herein that belong to other
companies.
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SOURCE Western Digital Corp.