Drexler Technology today announced it has been awarded a Japanese patent, effective through 2010, for reading/writing files on non-eraseable storage media that "describes a method of achieving 'apparent erasability' on recordable DVD or CD-R disks using OS-level commands. A similar patent was issued to Drexler in the in the US in 1991 (as well other countries). Apple, Adaptec, Compaq, Microsoft and most PC manufacturers were among the list of potential companies that would notified of the "opportunity to purchase exclusive patent licenses for each of the seven countries and for each of the various PC operating systems."

Utilizing the invention, nonerasable and rewriteable optical disk drive systems act as if they are instantly erasable like magnetic hard drives. This enables PC system features such as 'drive-letter access,' 'packet writing' of small files without wasted overhead, and the ability to drag-and-drop files and to randomly erase separate files.

by MacNN Staff