Unova Inc. of Beverly Hills sued Toshiba Corp. and its Irvine division in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, charging that Toshiba--the world's largest maker of portable computers--is using technology protected by Unova patents for long-lasting battery packs and removable disk drives.
Unova and its Intermec IP unit say they own 12 U.S. patents issued between 1984 and 1999 for rechargeable batteries and drives.
