According to industry news, Western Digital has been ordered to pay $315.7 million in damages for violating a patent related to data encryption technology owned by SPEX Technologies. The patents originate from the company Spyrus and largely cover data encryption technologies originally used in PCMCIA and Compact Flash devices.

A California federal jury found that several of Western Digital's self-encrypting storage devices infringed on a patent owned by SPEX Technologies, which acquired patents from a company called Spyrus. According to Reuters, Western Digital plans to contest the decision.