Overland patent broadside: Targeted firms vow to fight

Quantum and other vendors being sued by Overland Storage for allegedly infringing its patents are in more of a mood to fight than settle. On Friday Overland - the supplier of REO and NEO tape and disk protection systems, and Snap-branded filers - said it was suing Quantum, Venture Corp, Spectra Logic, PivotStor, Qualstar, …

[Andy J]

Design Patent

What the article fails to make clear is what is meant by a design patent (or patented design as it is referred to in the text). A design patent is the US equivalent of what most other countries refer to as a Registered Design and is all about the physical appearance and characteristics of the item, not how it functions. A utility patent covers the latter, and is generally seen as the more important form of intellectual property for technology companies, since the outside appearance of a product can easily be changed to avoid infringing, whereas re-designing the functionality so that it doesn't infringe may be either expensive or technologically impossible in the short term.

[Crisp]

These guys can wait a very long time under their bridges before they sue...

No... wait... That's *Patient* Trolls.

[unredeemed]

For years Overland was in dire need of a cash boost. Their products were never that great, just average. Is this how they'll get their much needed cash? through royalties?

[Tom 13]

@unredeemed

Yeah, I mean that worked so well for (New) SCO.