By Anupreeta Das
NEW YORK, May 19 (Reuters) - SanDisk Corp continues to negotiate with rival Samsung Electronics Co Ltd over renewing their patent licensing agreement that is set to expire this August, SanDisk Chief Executive Eli Harari said.
Describing the negotiations as "quite intense," Harari told the Reuters Global Technology Summit in New York that both sides would prefer to come to a negotiated agreement by Aug. 14, the day the seven-year deal ends.
"Both parties are serious and sincere to try to come up with a resolution that is acceptable to both sides," Harari said.
If there is no agreement, SanDisk plans to move to Plan B," Harari said without disclosing what that might be.
But he indicated the possibility of litigation if an agreement were not reached by the expiration date, as Samsung and its customers would then be infringing on patents that SanDisk, a top maker of flash memory, holds.
Samsung pays about $350 million a year in royalties to SanDisk to use its patented flash memory technology. Flash is a kind of compact memory used in gadgets like digital cameras and portable music players.
Last September, SanDisk rejected a $5.8 billion unsolicited buyout offer from the giant South Korean electronics maker.
SanDisk said at the time it was possible Samsung was trying to take advantage of ongoing licensing negotiations between the two companies.
"It's a different world today" from when the two companies were locked in a deal battle, Harari said, adding that he hopes the companies can reach a friendly agreement.
An email sent to Samsung representatives seeking comment did not receive an immediate reply.
Shares of SanDisk were off 17 cents or 1.2 percent to $14.56 in late morning Nasdaq trade. (For summit blog: http://blogs.reuters.com/summits/) (For more on Reuters Global Technology Summit, see ID:nLI040240
