Western Digital has won a temporary restraining order (TRO) preventing its flash joint-venture partner Toshiba from impeding the shipment of engineering wafers to WD, as well as preventing it from blocking Western Digital employees from accessing shared databases.

In June 28, Toshiba blocked Western Digital from accessing certain databases, claiming that WD had "improperly obtained and used certain of Toshiba's and Toshiba Memory Corporation's (TMC) technical information stored in those databases."

On July 6, 2017, WD, through its subsidiary SanDisk LLC, filed a motion seeking a temporary restraining order against TMC's blocking before the Superior Court of California. Today the court confirmed that Toshiba and TMC do not have to provide access to database information that is owned exclusively by Toshiba or its affiliates, including TMC. Toshiba says that this "was one of the primary areas of concern for TMC - protecting the valuable technology that Toshiba and TMC own."

However, the court ordered Toshiba to provide WD with access to other information that was available to WD on June 28, 2017, for a limited period of time while the parties provide additional briefing to the court. A hearing is set for July 28, 2017.

Toshiba and WD are in an acrimonious dispute over Toshiba trying to sell its joint-venture interests without WD's consent and not to WD itself.

WD is trying to force Toshiba to let Western Digital buy its interest in the pair's joint venture by using a lengthy arbitration court process, lasting beyond a date when Toshiba needs to renew its Tokyo stock exchange listing and for which renewal it is not capitalized enough to make.

It has also filed an injunctive relief claim to try to halt the sale.