Penalty Phase Set in Digidyne Antitrust Lawsuit

It took nine years for Digidyne Corp., a Tustin-based computer maker, to win its antitrust suit against Data General Corp., and it will be almost another year before the company will be able to think about collecting any monetary damages.

Digidyne, which is seeking $101 million in damages from the large Boston computer maker, said the penalty phase of the proceedings has been scheduled to start Oct. 20, 1987, before U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Patel in San Francisco.

The judge will determine the amount of damages suffered by Digidyne when Data General tied the sale of its operating system software to the purchase of its computer system hardware. Earlier this year, Data General was found liable for unspecified antitrust damages.

Fairchild Semiconductor, which had joined Digidyne in the suit in 1978, settled its portion of the litigation against Data General for more than $52 million in September.

Ronald N. Murray, Digidyne’s president and chief executive, said the setting of a penalty phase trial date represents “a light at the end of the tunnel in the nine-year legal battle.”