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SanDisk Products Seized at Berlin Trade Show

Trade officials in the Federal Republic of Germany seized MP3 players from SanDisk`s booth at a trade show in Berlin recently, after SanDisk lost a legal fight over the use of compression technology in their MP3 players in an Italian court. In the case, patent firm Sisvel out of Italy won an injunction against SanDisk, a electronics manufacturer that is probably more well known for its memory cards than its MP3 player technology.

Sisvel accused SanDisk of refusing to pay licensing fees for the technology that SanDisk uses to play back encoded MP3 files. While the case was filed in Italian court, SanDisk is also being sued by Sisvel within the German court system. In addition to the MP3 players, a number of new products were taken away from the company`s booth at the Berlin trade show following a Sisvel request for an injunction.

According to Giustino de Sanctis, head of Sisvel`s US-based subsidiary Audio MPEG, said "It is just not possible to do it any other way. We are not getting anywhere with them. We have 600 licensees and we have to protect their rights, and the rights of the patent holders." De Sanctis says that since SanDisk devices are able to play MP3 files, the company is required to buy a license from the developer. SanDisk denies it is infringing on any patents, be they Sisvel`s or otherwise.