Micro Technology Tries Lawsuit Against Digital : Computers: The Anaheim component maker continues battle with industry giant by patent infringement claim<i> .</i>

ANAHEIM — Using another weapon in its struggle with a computer industry giant, Micro Technology Inc. announced that it has filed a lawsuit in federal court against Digital Equipment Corp. for alleged patent infringement.

The new lawsuit, filed last month in federal court in San Jose, extends a legal dispute that began 15 months ago when Digital sued Anaheim-based Micro Technology, a maker of computer components, over an unrelated technology.

Micro Technology accused Digital of infringing upon its patents relating to two technologies that allow Digital’s mainframe and minicomputers to be hooked up to each other and to mass-storage equipment. The suit asks that Digital’s patent on the technologies be declared invalid.

Nikki Richardson, a spokeswoman for Digital, said the suit was without merit and that the company would defend itself vigorously. She declined further comment on the suit.

Tom Raimondi, vice president of marketing for Micro Technology, said that his company had no choice but to sue after Digital began pressuring it several months ago to sign a patent license agreement.

“Digital’s continuous pressure . . . has forced us to file this suit,” he said.

But Raimondi said Digital’s patent on the so-called DSSI and CI technologies are invalid because Micro Technology acquired patents that supersede the Digital patents when it acquired a new company in March.

Micro Technology acquired SF2, a Santa Clara company, for $18 million at that time.

SF2 held patents relating to a so-called network interface that links multiple Digital VMS mainframe computers together. SF2 also held patents relating to how Digital’s VAX minicomputers are linked to storage devices.

The latest dispute greatly expands the scope of the litigation that began in June, 1991, when Digital sued Micro Technology for allegedly violating patents relating to technology that governed how data is stored and retrieved in a network of Digital minicomputers.

Micro Technology, which derived more than half of its then-$100 million in revenue from the related technology, filed a countersuit, alleging that Digital was trying to monopolize a market for itself.

The Anaheim company now stands alone in its opposition to Digital on the patent-infringement cases. Another Orange County company, Costa Mesa-based Emulex Corp., settled its litigation with Digital in December.

All other competitors in the $350-million industry decided to sign Digital’s licensing program, which required that the companies exit the market by the end of this year.