well check this out not good if this goes through

[joeorc]

Hard times for hard drives: US may ban popular imports

By Jacqui Cheng | Published: October 11, 2007 - 11:20AM CT

The International Trade Commission (ITC) has announced that it plans to begin an investigation into several companies that either make or use certain hard drives. In a statement issued yesterday, the ITC said that the hard drives in question are alleged to infringe on patents owned by California residents Steven and Mary Reiber. The two filed a complaint with the ITC in September, saying that the importation of the hard drives violates section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930.
There are currently five companies being investigated by the ITC, including Western Digital, Seagate, Toshiba, Hewlett-Packard, and Dell. All five companies either manufacture drives that use "dissipative ceramic bonding tips," or sell products that use such hard drives. These parts are used to bond electrical wires within the hard drive—while the ITC doesn't specify exactly which patents the technology allegedly infringes on, two patents that are owned by the Reibers, titled "Dissipative ceramic bonding tool tip," appear to fit the description.
Section 337 of the Tariff Act bars the importation of products into the US that infringe on patents owned by others in the US. This is the same stipulation that bit Qualcomm in the butt last June, when the ITC barred the importation of its EVDO chips, circuit board modules, and handsets that infringed on the patents owned by its competitor, Broadcom. At that time, the ITC said that handsets that were already being imported prior to the ruling could continue to be imported, but that no new chips or handsets could be brought into the country.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post...r-imports.html

[theknub]

i think it's great. if someone infringed on my intellectual property i'd want it stopped.

[Amon37]

I buy Maxtor drives so it's all good.

[joeorc]

Originally Posted by theknub

i think it's great. if someone infringed on my intellectual property i'd want it stopped.

o'l i do too, i am talking from a industry standpoint of importing more product..this would mean less product... to go around which does kinda suck, but if they are infringing and they ignored the c&d order than they get what they deserve.if they are infringing that is...

[bhampton]

In 1930,.. why didn't I patent importation of hard drives?

Can I patent export of Blue jeans now?

=Brian

[joeorc]

Originally Posted by bhampton

In 1930,.. why didn't I patent importation of hard drives?

Can I patent export of Blue jeans now?

=Brian

yea it does get silly but if the infringement is true than its true....

[Manco]

Originally Posted by bhampton

In 1930,.. why didn't I patent importation of hard drives?

Can I patent export of Blue jeans now?

=Brian

It's not import/export that is patented. It's a specific function in the HDD that's been patented. You cannot import into the USA a product that uses a patented idea held by a US resident.

[darkpoet25]

Oh well, would you look at that. Ironic how Toshiba is on that list.