Overland Attacks BDT

Overland Storage, Inc. has filed a patent infringement lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. The lawsuit, filed on August 13, 2010, names as defendants BDT AG and BDT-Solutions GmbH, both based in Germany, and BDT Products, Inc., based in Irvine, California. The case is Overland Storage, Inc. v. BDT AG, et al., No. 10-cv-1700.

The suit claims infringement of two of Overland Storage’s United States patents, including:

• US 6,328,766, which relates to an automated media library containing media elements, where each media element may be a member of one of several sets of media elements; and
• US 6,353,581, which relates to an automated media library and retrieval system where a user can insert or remove storage media, such as magnetic tape cartridges, through a mail slot without removing a magazine from the media library and without disturbing other operations.

The complaint broadly claims infringement of BDT’s products, and it specifically identifies BDT’s FlexStor II product line as infringing on Overland Storage’s patents.

The two patents represented in Overland Storage’s lawsuit represent improvements in virtual storage and media access in the tape storage market, which has reportedly topped $9.1 billion in revenue over the last six years, according to the 2009 IDC report. In addition to a fair royalty for its patented inventions, Overland Storage’s complaint seeks to stop BDT and its related companies from using Overland Storage’s patented technologies in the United States in the future.

"We owe it to our shareholders and our customers to protect the technology investments we have made throughout the years," said Eric Kelly, President and CEO of Overland Storage. "We believe our technologies are one of the driving forces behind the demand for tape storage solutions today. Our patented technologies allow us and others to bring to market products and solutions that are more reliable, more secure and more efficient," said Mr. Kelly.

Overland Storage is represented in the lawsuit by several San Diego and Palo Alto-based lawyers from DLA Piper LLP (US), a multi-national law firm. "Of significant interest to our shareholders, the arrangement with DLA Piper ensures that this legal action will not involve any cash outlay for Overland Storage, and therefore maximizes the return to our company and its investors," said Mr. Kelly.