SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK), a global leader in flash storage solutions, today announced that a Santa Clara County jury has awarded SanDisk $28.5 million in damages for PNY's breach of its license agreement. The jury found that PNY had failed to pay SanDisk amounts owed for the right to license SanDisk's valuable intellectual property.

“We see this verdict as an important affirmation of the value of SanDisk’s patent portfolio, which has been consistently ranked as one of the strongest in the world,” said Eric S. Whitaker, senior vice president and chief legal officer at SanDisk. “The ruling demonstrates the necessity of a strong patent system that protects technology companies’ investments in research and development. We will continue to safeguard and defend SanDisk’s investments in its intellectual property.”

SanDisk has been a pioneer in the flash memory industry that has transformed consumer electronics and is now transforming the storage industry. SanDisk’s significant investments in research and development have resulted in over 4,900 patents that cover many key aspects of flash memory including the system level technology to manage the memory.