Toshiba Corporation and its subsidiary, Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc. (TAEC), today announced the filing of a notice of appeal to a higher court on portions of the decision of the Superior Court of the State of California in the case of alleged misappropriation of NAND Flash-related trade secrets from Lexar Media.
The Superior Court (the court of first instance), granted a new trial on damages on the grounds that there was insufficient evidence to support the judgment. The companies are appealing those portions of the Court's December 2, 2005 order denying judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV) and denying certain parts of the motion for new trial.
JNOV (Latin: Judgment Non Obstante Veredicto) is the practice in American courts whereby the presiding judge in a civil case may overrule the decision of a jury and vacate their verdict because it was improper as a matter of law and enter a judgment in favor of the opposing party
Toshiba is very pleased with the court's ruling last Friday, vacating what we consider to be an erroneous verdict on damages. Toshiba is appealing other rulings in an effort to correct that what we believe to be erroneous verdicts on the trade secret and breach of fiduciary liability claims. We have strongly contested the allegations and denied wrongdoing throughout the proceedings, and will continue to pursue all legal avenues to arrive at a just outcome to this matter.
In November 2002 Lexar Media filed suit in the Superior Court of the State of California, alleging theft of trade secrets and breach of fiduciary duty by Toshiba Corporation and TAEC. The appellate process could take several years, and a new trial would not occur before that process is completed.
Toshiba was a principal innovator of NAND Flash memory technology in the 1980's and has been a pioneer throughout its development. Flash memory remains a strategic product for Toshiba and one in which Toshiba owns original technologies.
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