A California federal court jury has ordered data storage provider Western Digital to pay $315.7 million in damages for infringing a patent covering data security technology, marking a significant victory for patent holder SPEX Technologies in a legal battle that has spanned over seven years.

The verdict, delivered on Friday, found that several Western Digital self-encrypting hard drive products violated a patent owned by SPEX Technologies. The patent, which covers data encryption innovations, was originally developed by cryptography company Spyrus before being acquired by SPEX.

SPEX, based in San Jose, California, initiated the lawsuit in 2016. The case centred on Western Digital products including its Ultrastar, My Book and My Passport devices, which SPEX claimed infringed their intellectual property rights. These products, which form a substantial part of Western Digital's consumer and enterprise storage portfolio, incorporate self-encrypting technology for data security.

Sue Pontius, co-founder of Spyrus, welcomed the decision. "I am grateful to the jury for their verdict," she said. "This outcome represents years of dedication to protecting innovative technology that has contributed significantly to data security." Marc Fenster, SPEX's lead attorney, described the outcome as "a vindication of Sue Pontius and her perseverance."

A spokesperson for Western Digital expressed disagreement with the verdict, stating the company plans to challenge the decision through post-trial motions and, if necessary, an appeal.

The patents at the heart of the current case, dating back to 1997, cover technology enabling peripheral devices to communicate securely with host computing devices. While these patents expired in 2017, the lawsuit was filed before their expiration, allowing the case to proceed. The technology was initially designed for PCMCIA and Compact Flash devices but has broader applications in modern storage systems.

This marks the second significant patent infringement penalty for Western Digital in recent months. In July, another jury in the same Santa Ana, California court ordered the company to pay more than $262 million for infringing patents related to hard drive storage capacity technology. These consecutive losses represent a combined penalty of nearly $578 million for the storage giant.

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