Remember 3.5 disk drive pioneer Lapine Technology Corp (yes, we know 3.5 hard drives are two a penny these days but they had to be pioneered when the 5.25 form factor held sway) – well the failed firm has come back to bite Kyocera Corp hard: the Japanese ceramic packages maker has been ordered by the arbitration court of the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce to pay about $257m to Lapine and to Prudential-Bache Trade Corp, but Kyocera will take the case to the US District Court in California in an attempt to have the order reversed; in 1984, Kyocera contracted with Lapine and Pru-Bache to make 3.5 drives for Lapine, whose business was financed and managed by Pru-Bache; Lapine Technology is held by LaPine Holding Co, in which Pru-Bache has a 67% stake and Kyocera holds the rest; when Lapine hit trouble in 1986, Kyocera signed a contract to help it restructure under which Pru-Bache would pay for purchases of Kyocera products, Kyocera said, adding that part of the pact was then amended without the consent of Kyocera to have Lapine Technology pay for the products.
