Scotts Valley (CA) - Seagate announced that it has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Cornice, a manufacturer of storage solutions for portable devices.

Seagate’s lawsuit against Cornice in the U.S. District Court asserts infringement of six United States patents that relate to" several areas of disc drive technology.", the company said.

Seagate is seeking unspecified monetary damages and a permanent injunction that bars Cornice from "making, using, importing, offering to sell, or selling the allegedly infringing products in the United States." No further details were made available, industry spources however said that all claims relate to patents covering 1" mini harddrives.

Seagate justified the suit with a need to protect "the competitive advantage" the company had established" through research and development investments.

Cornice could be reached for comment.