Philips and Imation fall out again

Electronic and digital storage manufacturer Imation announced that it has filed an action in the Federal District Court in St Paul, Minnisota, requesting that the court resolve an ongoing dispute with various subsidiaries of Philips Electronics.

The company is requesting that the court reaffirm Imation's cross-licensing rights related to various optical products, including recordable and rewritable CD and DVD discs, based on a long-standing agreement between Imation and Philips.

Imation filed a similar action in October, following which the two companies entered into negotiations to resolve the dispute and Imation withdrew its filing. However, those negotiations were unsuccessful and Imation is re-filing its case.

Imation said its cross-licensing agreement with Philips allows Imation to manufacture, have others manufacture for Imation on its behalf and sell various optical media products including CD and DVD discs. Imation's action asks the court to stop Philips' alleged attempts to interfere with Imation's ongoing business relationships with its customers and suppliers.

Frank Russomanno, president and CEO of Imation, said in a statement: "We are disappointed that Philips continues to attempt to interfere with Imation's optical partners despite the existing and long-standing cross-licence agreement and despite our ongoing discussions with Philips. As a technology leader with a broad portfolio of intellectual property, and one of the innovators that helped develop a roadmap to the optical storage formats in use today by hundreds of millions of consumers, Imation vigorously supports the valid enforcement of licensing and IP rights. We simply want Philips to abide by their agreement with us."