… Overland Happy

Overland Storage, Inc. announced that the U.S. International Trade Commission has released a Notice of Commission Decision to Review in Part the Administrative Law Judge’s Remand Initial Determination in the patent infringement action filed by Overland Storage against BDT.

Overland previously reported that the ITC and District Court actions against IBM and Dell had been resolved by settlement.

The Notice of Commission Decision stated that the ITC has granted Overland’s petition to allow the full commission to review the administrative law judge’s findings regarding both of the Overland patents asserted against BDT.

Specifically, the full commission will review the administrative law judge’s finding that the BDT FlexStor II products do not infringe claim 16 of U.S. Patent No. 6,353,581, which relates to the ‘mail slot’ feature in automated media devices. The commission will also review the administrative law judge’s finding that the asserted claims of U.S. Patent No. 6,328,766, which relates to ‘partitioning’ of automated media devices, are invalid based on an IBM operator’s guide.

The commission announced that "having considered the evidence of record, and the parties’ submissions, the commission has determined to review" those findings.

If the commission reverses the administrative law judge’s decision regarding the ‘581 patent, Overland will likely be entitled to relief under Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930. If the commission reverses the administrative law judge’s decision regarding claims of the ‘766 patent, those claims will likely be found valid by the ITC. The full commission’s decision is currently due to be issued by June 25, 2013.

"We are extremely pleased with the commission’s decision to review what we consider to be erroneous findings regarding the ‘581 patent and the ‘766 patent. We look forward to the commission’s infringement findings related to the ‘581 patent, and the commission’s validity findings related to the ‘766 patent," said Sean Cunningham, lead counsel and a partner at DLA Piper LLP (US).

"Innovation is the driving force of technology companies, and the ability to create and protect their intellectual property is critical to companies as they develop new products and protect existing assets," said Eric Kelly, president and CEO of Overland.

Represented by DLA Piper LLP, Overland has previously reported that it filed additional lawsuits on June 28, 2012, claiming infringement of one or both of the Overland patents involved in the ITC case against BDT. Upon completion of the ITC case, Overland plans to pursue monetary damages against BDT in district court.