First Chinese Patent Plaintiff in U.S. Court

On Feb. 10, 2006, Shenzhen-based Netac Technology, a Chinese leading company for USB flash memory, sued PNY Technologies, a New Jersey-based company, in a federal court in Texas, alleging infringement of Netac's U.S. patent relating to USB flash memory drives.

Netac is the first Chinese patent plaintiff in a U.S. court. In its home court in Shenzhen, the litigious maker of OnlyDisk flash memory drives has already brought patent suits against domestic competitor Beijing Hua Qi, Taiwanese manufacturer Acer, and Japan's Sony. (Hua Qi lost in June 2004 but has appealed; Acer settled; the Sony suit is in an early phase.)

It was reported that in 2004, Netac ranked sixth in flash drive market share with 4.4%. The industry leaders were SanDisk, with 19.4%, M-Systems, 16.6% and Lexar, 12%.