Iomega Patents Storage Technology

Known for those old zip drives of yesterday, Iomega is still alive and kicking. As it turns out, they just got a patent that is sure to get a few smiles from those who will benefit from their latest work.

The United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) recently issued two highly notable patents to Iomega for its work with nano-technology and optical data storage, and external storage media.

On April 12, 2005, U.S. Patent No. 6,879,556 titled Method and Apparatus for Optical Data Storage was issued to Iomega. This patent is the first in a series of nano-technology-based subwavelength optical data storage patents sought by Iomega. The patent covers a novel technique of encoding data on the surface of a DVD by using reflective nano-structures to encode data in a highly multi-level format. This technology, termed AO-DVD (Articulated Optical - Digital Versatile Disc), allows more data to be stored on a DVD and could allow future optical discs to potentially hold 40-100 times more information with data transfer rates 5-30 times faster than today’s DVDs, and at similarly low costs. This invention was recently recognized as a winner of the Nanotech Briefs’ Nano 50 awards in its product category. The Nano 50 awards are given to the “best of the best” in the industry — the innovative people and designs that will move nano-technology to key mainstream markets. [Read the rest]