Pure Storage and EMC set for second court clash

Judge orders second trial in patent battle

The legal saga between Pure Storage and EMC is set for its next instalment after a judge ordered a new trial in an ongoing patent battle.

EMC started legal proceedings against Pure in November 2013, claiming the vendor had infringed on five of its patents.

Prior to the trial in March, EMC dropped one of the claims and another was rejected by the judge.

In court, Pure was found to have infringed parts of one EMC patent and ordered to pay EMC $14m (£10.5m) in damages. EMC had originally sought $83m.

In the latest twist, Pure has won a ruling meaning a new trial will take place to establish the validity of EMC's patent.

Joe FitzGerald, vice president and general counsel at Pure Storage, said in a blog post: "Our view remains that EMC‘s approach to market competition is to compete in courtrooms rather than the marketplace.

"We continue to believe that we will ultimately prevail in the patent infringement case and today's ruling is a major step in that direction."

When contacted by CRN, EMC said it does not comment on ongoing litigation.

A date for the new trial has not been set.

EMC and Pure are also set to lock horns in court on 17 October in a separate case, in which EMC claims Pure hired EMC staff to obtain confidential information.

Pure denies the claims but alleges that EMC obtained Pure products to steal trade secrets.