TECHNOLOGY : Archive Settles Patent-Infringement Lawsuit It Filed Against Competitor

Archive Corp., a Costa Mesa-based maker of tape drives that back up data stored in computers, said Monday it has settled a patent-infringement lawsuit filed last year against competitor Rexon Corp.

The litigation had a long history. Cipher Data Products in San Diego, an Archive competitor, had sued Rexon in 1987 for infringement on an unrelated set of patents.

Under a settlement with Cipher in 1988, Rexon was obligated to pay royalties in the millions of dollars, said Robert Miller, general counsel for Rexon.

Cipher also sued Archive, but that lawsuit ended when Archive acquired Cipher for $141.7 million in April, 1990. Several months after acquiring Cipher, Archive began enforcing its newly acquired patents against competitors in the tape drive industry.

In September, Archive filed a suit in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles against Rexon, based in Manhattan Beach, and two of its subsidiaries: Wangtek in Simi Valley and Tecmar in Cleveland. The lawsuit alleged infringement on patented technology used in Archive’s 5 1/4-inch tape drives and 3 1/2-inch mini-cartridge tape drives.

Financial details of Monday’s settlement were not disclosed. Archive officials said both companies have certain rights to each other’s patented technology, and Rexon will receive a license under the earlier settlement negotiated with Cipher.

“We are pleased to have resolved our patent differences with Rexon,” D. Howard Lewis, Archive’s chairman, said in a statement. “This settlement allows us to focus our patent licensing efforts in new directions.”

Gene Valet, director of intellectual property for Archive, said his company has no other patent lawsuits outstanding against competitors.