Lexar Media Inc, a maker of memory cards used in computers and digital cameras, on Wednesday said a jury found Toshiba Corp liable for breach of fiduciary duty and theft of trade secrets and awarded Lexar more than $380 million in damages. The jury in the California State Superior Court in San Jose, also found that Toshiba's actions support an award of punitive damages, which are yet to be decided, Lexar said.
Evidence and argument will be presented to the jury on Thursday on the amount of punitive damages, it said in a statement.
A Toshiba spokesman in Tokyo said the company could not comment on the ruling as the jury is still continuing discussions on the case.
The verdict "holds Toshiba accountable for its conduct - building Lexar's trust to acquire our technology and then betraying that trust to partner with our competitor and compete against us," Eric Whitaker, Lexar's general counsel, said in a statement.
Lexar said it expects the court to rule on its separate claim for unfair competition as well as on anticipated post-trial motions shortly after a hearing currently scheduled for April 13.
Based on the jury's verdict and findings, Lexar said it intends to ask the court for an injunction that bars the sale of Toshiba's products in the United States, including Toshiba's large and small block NAND flash memory chips, its CompactFlash, Secure Digital and xD Picture Card products.
Flash memory chips are widely used in portable gadets such as digital cameras and camera-equipped mobile phones as they do not require power to retain data.
Lexar's case for patent infringement against Toshiba on more than 10 of its patents remains pending in Federal Court.
Shares of Fremont, California-based Lexar, which rose 5.7 percent to close at $3.17 on Nasdaq, were 48 percent higher at $4.68 in after hours trading.
Shares in Toshiba, Japan's second-largest electronics conglomerate, were down 1.94 percent at 455 yen after the news, underperforming a 0.13 percent drop in the benchmark Nikkei average.
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