The latest patent infringement lawsuit sees Dell and two of its suppliers Hitachi and Western Digital, come under fire from Convolve Incorporated.

In a case filed in a Texas court, Convolve is accusing Dell, WD and Hitachi of infringing on a patent the company holds for limiting vibrations in HDDs.

The New York based engineering company claims that Dell is infringing on a patent it was issued in 1988, for “Shaping Command Inputs to Minimize Unwanted Dynamics”. According to Convolve, the use of this technology allows a machine to move an object quickly with minimal vibration and can be used in the hard drive industry to limit vibrations of the drive’s actuator arm, the South East Texas Record reports.

Convolve says it contacted Dell 10 years ago, in 1998, with regard to maybe licencing the patent and spoke with the company several times about the technology used. Convolve also says that it “disclosed confidential and proprietary information” to Dell as well as giving hardware demonstrations under a non-disclosure agreement.

Despite the fact that Convolve licences the technology to other companies, no such agreement was ever entered into with Dell and the company claims WD and Hitachi manufacture HDDs that infringe on the patent.

Convolve is suing for monetary damages and attorney fees as well as compensatory damages and costs.

Read full details of the case on the South East Texas Record.

Source : Tom's Hardware