AUSTIN, Texas (Legal Newsline) -- Last week, Texas-based Crossroads Systems Inc. filed lawsuits against Cisco Systems Inc., NetApp Inc. and Quantum Corp. in federal court.
The company, headquartered in Austin, specializes in data storage technology.
In all three complaints, filed Feb. 18 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Crossroads alleges infringement of U.S. Patents 6,425,035 and 7,934,041.
The asserted patents are part of Crossroads' '972 Patent Family.
Since 2001, the company has licensed the patent family to more than 40 companies and received in excess of $60 million in license and settlement revenue.
In its lawsuits, Crossroads alleges each of the three defendants have incorporated its patented technology into their storage systems, including Cisco's MDS 9200 Series Switches, Cisco's MDS 9500 Series Directors with MDS 9000 18/4-Port Service Module, NetApp's E5400 Series Storage Arrays and Quantum's StorNext QX-Series Storage Arrays.
The company argues the patents cover technology that is "fundamental" to secure and efficient access to network storage systems.
"We have a responsibility to our shareholders to maximize the value of the millions of dollars we have invested in our intellectual property," President and CEO Richard K. Coleman Jr. said.
"We use every means possible to avoid litigation, but when all other avenues are exhausted, we will aggressively pursue every company, regardless of size or industry position, that continues to use our patented technology without a license."
Crossroads, which employs about 60, is seeking monetary damages and injunctive relief.
Matthew Houser, a spokesman for NetApp, said the company does not comment on current or pending litigation.
Cisco and Quantum could not immediately be reached for comment.
In November, Crossroads filed similar patent infringement lawsuits against Dell Inc., Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., Huawei Enterprise USA Inc., Huawei Technologies USA Inc. and Tandberg Data Corporation.
From Legal Newsline: Reach Jessica Karmasek by email at patents@legalnewsline.com.
Small Texas company sues Cisco, others for patent infringement
