BDT Declares Victory in Patent Dispute With Overland

BDT Products, Inc. welcomed the public release of Chief Administrative Law Judge Charles Bullock‘s Initial Determination in Investigation No. 337-TA-746.

The Initial Determination details Overland Storage, Inc.‘s failure to prove its case against BDT.

Some of the conclusions
from the Initial Determination are:

• No violation of Section 337 (related to Unfair Practices In Import Trade) by any of the BDT, IBM or Dell Respondents;
• No infringement of the ‘581 patent by BDT, IBM or Dell;
• No direct or indirect infringement by BDT parties of Overland’s patents;
• None of BDT’s FlexStor II products infringe any of Overland’s asserted patents;
• No Economic Domestic Industry for Overland’s ‘581 patent;
• Claim 15 of the ‘581 patent is invalid.

"We are gratified that Chief Administrative Law Judge Bullock has concluded what we expected all along," said Dan Jan, BDT Product’s president. "The fact is that our products do not infringe Overland’s patents and we expect the Commission to confirm the Chief Judge’s findings."

The Initial Determination concluded that BDT, IBM and Dell’s products do not infringe the ‘581 or ‘766 patents. It merely concluded that the ‘766 patent was infringed only when their tape libraries were bundled in very specific configurations.

"It’s an uncommon configuration at best," said Anton N. Handal, lead counsel for BDT from Handal & Associates.

IBM and Overland entered into a license agreement in November 2011.

"At any rate IBM and Dell now have a license to practice the patents," Handal added.

"We firmly believe that Overland’s patents are invalid and although the Chief Administrative Law Judge did not reach that conclusion, he laid out a clear roadmap to accomplish invalidation," said Handal. "If Overland decides to actually pursue additional litigation against BDT, we will continue to seek invalidation of these patents."

Read also:
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U.S. International Trade Commission Said Overland Patents Valid
But found no violation by BDT.
Overland Action Vs. BDT Once More Delayed
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Overland’s ITC Litigation Vs. BDT Reported
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Date on Overland Patent Lawsuit Vs. BDT Extended
To January 12, 2012
BDT Vs. Overland
German manufacturer retains Overland’s co-founder as consulting expert.
Overland Attacks BDT
For patent infringement on tape automation