Color scanner companies Storm Technology Inc and Visioneer Inc ensured another financial bonanza for lawyers with a ferocious legal spat over patents. Visioneer has filed with the US District Court in San Jose a countersuit against Storm seeking punitive and exemplary damages. They are also asking for dismissal of a patent-infringement suit brought by Storm earlier this month. In its countersuit, Fremont, California-based Visioneer contends that Storm intentionally engaged in wrongful acts designed to interfere with and disrupt Visioneer’s relationships with its customers, partners, and suppliers. Visioneer also asserts Storm willfully and maliciously filed its complaint for the ulterior purposes of interfering with Visioneer’s business. Mountain View, California-based Storm started the row by filing a suit alleging that Visioneer had infringed Storm’s contact image sensor technology. Now, Visioneer claims Storm has infringed a crucial Visioneer patent.
