A jury has ordered Toshiba to pay more in the Lexar Case, where Toshiba was found guilty of breach of fiduciary duty and theft of trade secrets. The two companies were previously business partners, but Lexar has sued Toshiba because the Japanese company used its relationship with Lexar to gain access to the company's business plans and technology while simultaneously working with SanDisk, a major rival of Lexar, on similar flash memory technology.
The award covers punitive damages and comes a day after the same jury ordered Toshiba to pay $381.4 million in damages for breach of fiduciary duty and theft of trade secrets. This brings the total damages awarded to Lexar by the jury to $465.4 million, although the actual amount to be paid will be determined by the judge at a later date.
Lexar says it believes the total amount as it stands represents the largest IP (intellectual property) verdict in California history and the third-largest IP verdict in the U.S.
Toshiba has said that it believes that the findings of the Jury are in error, and that it plans to pursue "all available legal avenues to correct it."