Computer manufacturer Asustek has just filled a lawsuit against the US-based conglomerate IBM over an alleged patent infringement regarding its intellectual property. Asustek's legal action comes as a response to a previous lawsuit filled by IBM against the Taiwanese vendor on the same grounds.

The system vendor filled its lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, seeking relief from the alleged IBM infringements, as well as financial compensations.

According to the lawsuit, Asustek accuses IBM of willingly abusing its intellectual property concerning a method for providing remote storage for Internet appliances, as well as a server-class patented technology.

The Taiwanese hardware manufacturer accuses IBM of having infringed its patents in a wide range of products, from hardware components to software applications.

A similar action was filled by IBM with the US International Trade Commission earlier this year, demanding that Asustek's products be banned from importing equipment into the United States market.

IBM accused Asustek that it is abusing its intellectual property related to PC power supply, automatic fan speed control, and the method and apparatus for making a cluster of computers appear as a single host on a network. According to IBM spokespersons, Asustek was abusing the company's patented technology in motherboards, graphics cards, notebook computers, barebone computers, servers and routers.

The two companies had previously signed a licensing agreement, that was effective until December 2004. However, Asustek kept on using IBM's patented technology even after the licensing agreement expired, without renewing the technology licenses.

Asustek refused to comment on its patent infringement lawsuit. IBM representatives were not available immediately for comments.