▁the ▁device ▁the ▁same ▁year , ▁the ▁pat ent ▁was ▁granted ▁and ▁the ▁product ▁launched ▁only ▁in ▁ 2 0 0 2 . ▁IBM ▁had ▁released ▁an ▁eight ▁meg aby te ▁USB ▁flash ▁drive ▁in ▁late ▁ 2 0 0 0 , ▁which ▁preced ed ▁Net ac ' s ▁offering ▁to ▁market ▁by ▁more ▁than ▁a ▁year ▁and ▁a ▁half . ▁ ▁Product s ▁ ▁As ▁of ▁ 2 0 0 9 , ▁Net ac ' s ▁product ▁line ▁mainly ▁consists ▁of ▁USB ▁flash ▁drives , ▁external ▁hard ▁disk ▁drives , ▁MP 3 ▁Play ers , ▁digital ▁photo ▁frames , ▁micro controller ▁units , ▁and ▁SD ▁cards . ▁ ▁Pat ents ▁ ▁Un like ▁many ▁other ▁Chinese ▁O EM s , ▁Net ac ▁holds ▁a ▁number ▁of ▁pat ents . ▁By ▁ 2 0 0 9 , ▁Net ac ▁had ▁file d ▁for ▁over ▁ 3 0 0 ▁pat ents ▁in ▁the ▁USA , ▁South ▁Korea , ▁Singapore , ▁and ▁the ▁People ' s ▁Republic ▁of ▁China . ▁Over ▁ 2 0 0 ▁of ▁those ▁pat ent ▁applications ▁had ▁been ▁file d ▁by ▁ 2 0 0 5 . ▁ ▁Pat ents ▁held ▁by ▁Net ac ▁include : ▁Chinese ▁Pat ent ▁No . ▁ ▁Z L 9 9 1 1 7 2 2 5 . 6 ▁for ▁an ▁electronic ▁flash ▁memory ▁external ▁storage ▁method ▁and ▁device . ▁US ▁Pat ent ▁No . ▁ 6 , 8 2 9 , 6 7 2 , ▁for ▁an ▁electronic ▁flash ▁memory ▁external ▁storage ▁method ▁and ▁device