Creative Technology Ltd, maker of multimedia hardware and drivers for PCs and developer of the Sound Blaster Technology, has filed suit against Diamond Multimedia Systems Inc and ESS Technology Inc. Diamond, which makes PC add-in boards and ESS Technology, a semiconductor company, were slapped with the suit last week, although the news wasn’t made public until Thursday. The suit is centered around patented PCI audio technology which was developed by E-mu Systems Inc, a company that was acquired by Creative in 1993. Creative alleges that Diamond’s Sonic impact soundcards and ESS’s Maestro-2 audio chip employ technology covered by the E-mu patent. The lawsuit seeks both immediate injunctive relief and unspecified damages. Creative says the suit was a necessary to protect its property. Last year, the company sued Cyrix Corp and certain distributors, including Compaq Computer Corp, over infringement for improper use of the Sound Blaster name (CI No 3,122).
