Defendant
1 case as defendant.
Western Digital Technologies Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: WDC), a prominent American data storage company. Founded in 1970 as General Digital Corporation and adopting its current name around July 1971, the parent company is headquartered in San Jose, California. Western Digital Corporation is a public company with approximately 40,000 to 50,000 employees globally and reported revenues of US$9.52 billion for its fiscal year 2025.
Western Digital Technologies Inc. primarily focuses on the design, development, manufacture, and marketing of hard disk drives (HDDs). These data storage solutions are used across a wide range of applications, including personal computers, network-attached storage (NAS) systems, gaming consoles, security surveillance systems, and enterprise/data center environments, particularly under its Ultrastar product line. The company’s flash memory and solid-state drive (SSD) business was spun off as SanDisk Corporation in February 2025, with Western Digital Corporation retaining a focus on its core HDD offerings.
In terms of patent litigation, Western Digital Technologies Inc. operates as a defendant, indicating a posture of defending its products and technologies against infringement claims rather than asserting patents as a plaintiff. Its single tracked case, MR Technologie GmbH v. Western Digital Technologies Inc., was litigated in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. This pattern aligns with a typical operating company defending against patent assertions.
The tracked case, MR Technologie GmbH v. Western Digital Technologies Inc. (Case No. 8:24-cv-01848), was dismissed with prejudice in July 2025, suggesting a private resolution such as a confidential settlement between the parties. This case, along with a prior related suit (8:22-cv-01599), centered on patents concerning advanced methods to increase the storage capacity and areal density of hard disk drive magnetic recording media. In the earlier case, a California jury found Western Digital liable for patent infringement and awarded $262 million in damages, which with prejudgment interest amounted to $380 million, though Western Digital announced plans to appeal.
A jury in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California found that Western Digital infringed claims of US Patent 11138997, among other patents, and awarded MR Technologies $262 million in damages. With prejudgment interest, the total judgment reached approximately $380 million. Western Digital has stated its intent to appeal the decision.