NU Technology, Inc. ("NU") is the U.S. arm of New Universe Technology, Inc., a Taiwanese optical-storage company. Court records in the case below state that New Universe Technology owned NU Technology, describe NU and New Universe as Taiwanese companies, and place NU's offices in Fremont, California. The company was established around May 2003 as a brand venture backed by Quanta Computer and Quanta Storage Inc., and NU's own website (as quoted in the 2007 venue opinion) described it as a Quanta Storage spin-off "based in Taiwan with branches in the United States, The Netherlands, Australia and China." Ownership is private; no revenue, market-cap or reliable headcount figures are available from cited public sources. A PatSnap company page lists a California "NU Technology, Inc." founded 2003 with roughly 100 employees, but that record cannot be reliably confirmed as the same entity.
Operations. NU designs, makes and distributes optical disc drives, primarily for notebook and retail channels: internal and external half-height and slimline CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, CD-RW, combo (CD-RW/DVD-ROM) and DVD±RW writers, sold under the NU brand through U.S. retailers such as Newegg. Named models include the DDW-081/DDW-163 DVD writers, SBW-242 slim combo, EDW-041 and HDW-082 external recorders, and later New Universe Blu-ray writers (HBR-258/EBR-258). Some directory listings also describe consumer electronics such as MP3 players and LCD monitors, but those are not well documented.
Litigation posture. NU is an operating company, not a patent assertion entity. It appears in the tracked data once, as a defendant, and never as a plaintiff — consistent with a downstream seller sued alongside its supplier rather than a licensor asserting patents.
Notable case. Ricoh Company, Ltd. v. Quanta Computer Inc. et al., No. 06-cv-462-C (W.D. Wis., filed Aug. 24, 2006). Ricoh asserted four optical media patents (U.S. 6,631,109; 6,172,955; 5,063,552; 6,661,755) against Quanta entities and NU as a customer of Quanta Storage drives. NU and New Universe were voluntarily dismissed with prejudice in November 2009 before trial. The Federal Circuit's 2008 opinion (Ricoh v. Quanta Computer) addressed contributory infringement and inducement standards. The suit was filed in the Western District of Wisconsin, not a plaintiff-friendly Texas venue.