Toshiba Wins Reversal in Trade Secret Case

Toshiba Corp. won the reversal of a $465.4-million award to Lexar Media Inc. of Fremont, Calif., in a trade secret dispute over flash memory technology.

Superior Court Judge Jack Komar in San Jose ordered a new trial to determine damages in the case, saying evidence failed to support the jury’s compensatory award. Komar did not overturn the jury’s finding that Toshiba was liable for trade secret theft.

Lexar, a maker of memory chips for digital cameras, won a jury ruling March 23 that Toshiba broke a 1997 accord to co-develop its flash memory, and then shared it with SanDisk Corp., Lexar’s largest competitor.