14 DAY TRIAL // Lawsuits in the tech industry can become really serious business, and the one that VIA just slammed ASUS with might be among the ones most likely to drag on and on for years.
That's right, ASUS just got sued, and it wasn't by some patent troll in need of living off the productivity of others.
No, instead, VIA Technologies is the one placing charges in the Taipei District Court, claiming that ASUS misappropriated its trade secrets.
Basically, VIA says that ASUS stole its ideas. Well, ASUS as a whole and several of its executive officers, to be perfectly accurate.
The trade secrets allegedly stolen relate to USB technology. The full damages payment that VIA seeks is of NT$4.137 billion / $138 million / €100 million.
"As a long-time leader in IC design and technology innovation, VIA strongly believes in the importance of protecting intellectual property rights," commented Wenchi Chen, CEO of VIA Technologies, Inc.
"In addition to protecting interests of VIA and our shareholders, the aim of this suit is to ensure our industry operates in a healthy market environment that fosters innovation and promotes fair competition."
Back in 2007, former VIA executive, Chewei Lin left VIA and joined Asmedia, now controlled by ASUS. Lin took dozens of VIA employees with him when he did, as well as VIA IP related to USB host controllers and device controllers.
VIA claims that those products and patents were used in various ASUS PCs, external HDDs and peripherals to great success, despite Asmedia having no prior experience in the USB field. Definitely not enough to become an expert in a single year.
So far, the Taipei District Prosecutor has ruled that it's justified for Asmedia and four Asmedia employees, including R&D VP Chang Chi, to be criminally prosecuted. Whether that will be enough for VIA remains to be seen.