SmartDisk announced that on Friday, March 4, it filed a suit for patent infringement against Archos S.A. of France and Archos, Inc. in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

The suit alleges infringement of U.S. Patent No. 6,658,202, which was awarded to SmartDisk on December 3, 2003. This patent protects SmartDisk's technology marketed under the brand name FlashTrax(R). "As a technology company, some of our most valuable assets are intellectual property," stated Michael S. Battaglia, President and Chief Executive Officer of SmartDisk. "Our company will aggressively pursue enforcement of our proprietary rights to protect our position in the marketplace. We are also exploring licensing arrangements with companies who have recently introduced similar products."