San Diego Tech Co. Sues Korg, Yamaha, Others For Recording Patent Infringement

Musical instrument and equipment makers Korg Inc. and Yamaha Corp. and retailers such as Guitar Center Inc., Sam Ash Music Corp. and Best Buy Co. are infringing the San Diego, Calif.-based e.Digital Corp.’s patents for recording device technology, e.Digital said in a series of new complaints in the Southern District of California on Monday.

Korg, Yamaha and Diasonic Technology Co. are manufacturing musical recording devices and samplers that infringe U.S. Patent Numbers 5,839,108, 5,842,170, 5,742,737, and 5,491,774, while the retailers are selling those same devices, e.Digital alleges. The patents cover the use of flash memory technology in recording devices.

The accused products include Yamaha’s Pocketrak CX, C24, W24 and 2G portable recorders; Korg’s MR-2 and SOS portable recorders, KAOSS Pads and Kaossilator samplers; and Diasonic’s DDR series of products.

Other companies targeted in the lawsuits include J & R Electronics Inc., Sweetwater Sound Inc., Kraft Music Ltd. and Sec Tech Enterprises LLC.

“e.Digital’s inventions have opened the door to the widespread use of flash memory in many of today’s popular electronic products,” e.Digital President and CEO Fred Falk said in a statement Tuesday. “The strength of our fundamental intellectual property has been validated through licensing and settlement agreements and through reexamination by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.”

e.Digital claims its strategy is to leverage the knowledge and experience it has gained from prior enforcement actions to streamline, accelerate and maximize patent licensing efforts. The company devised a number of forward-looking flash memory technologies from the early 1990s onward.

“Our patents are essential to many consumer electronic products and their use is growing in importance with the proliferation of flash memory,” Falk said. “We consider our intellectual property valuable company assets and we are committed to protecting and enforcing them.”

e.Digital has previously sued a number of companies over its recording technology patents including Samsung Electronics Co., Avid Technology Inc. and Casio America Inc, many of which chose to settle and license the technology.