Hewlett Packard And EMC Settle Lawsuits

Long-running patent suits between the two technology companies finally come to a close with a settlement.

The terms of the settlement will run over five years, where Hewlett Packard will pay EMC $325 million or purchase the equivalent in products from EMC during that time.

The ongoing back and forth patent suits have given way to a cross-licensing agreement between the two companies, both big players in the information storage sector.

Most likely, the agreement will see HP purchase products from EMC for resale. EMC owns VMware, of which HP is a big customer and a bigger reseller.

“We are in complementary and competitive areas, so it makes a lot of sense to do it this way,” said HP spokesman Ryan Donovan. “It’s also nice to put the litigation to bed.”

EMC finished up 14 cents at $12.98 per share, while HP finished up 3 cents at $21.

David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.