(Associated Press via NewsEdge) Japanese electronics maker Toshiba settled a lawsuit over a flash memory chip patent claimed by a former employee, agreeing to pay him 87 million yen ($750,000).
In the deal reached at the Tokyo District Court, Toshiba agreed to pay the amount to Fujio Masuoka, a former Toshiba employee and now a professor at prestigious Tohoku University, the company said in a statement.
"Both parties confirm that there are no longer any outstanding issues or liabilities between them in respect of this employee's inventions," the statement said.
The flash memory chips are widely used in digital cameras, cell phones and music players.
Masuoka, who worked for Tokyo-based Toshiba, developed two kinds of flash memories, one in 1980 and the other in 1987, and the company obtained a total of 41 patents by them, Kyodo News said.
In the suit, Masuoka demanded about 1 billion yen ($8.62 million), part of the amount he claimed should be granted for his role in the inventions, Kyodo said. He insisted that Toshiba had obtained at least a 20-billion-yen ($172.41-million) profit from patent royalties and its exclusive sales of technology, it said.
In court, Toshiba claimed the inventions were not made by Mosuoka alone, but other company staff had joined in the development.
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