The San Jose data storage company had requested a delay in payment pending further court decisions, but Judge Selna expressed concerns WD could use a restructuring move to alter how much it would need to pay, therefore demanding that the company settles up in just one week.
Back then, Western Digital attorney Douglas Lumish of Latham & Watkins stated (via Reuters): “MRT's lawyers have given false credit, to a fairly magnificent extent, to Dr. Suess for the work of thousands of [Western Digital] engineers over decades and across the planet.”.
SPEX said that it wasn’t sure “which new company will be responsible for satisfying the judgment or whether it will be split between the new companies, or whether the new company (or companies) would be sufficiently capitalized to cover the judgment.”.
Western Digital (WD) has been given just seven days to cough up $553 million in a patent infringement case.
The hefty penalty comes as a California jury found WD guilty in October 2024 of infringing data encryption patents owned by SPEX Technologies – at that time, the fine was a smaller $316 million to cover damages.
