Imation Corporation announced Tuesday that it has acquired the intellectual property and assets of a patented data backup and recovery technology from Middleboro, Massachusetts-based Nine Technology.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Oakdale-based Imation said that the newly acquired technology is a data deduplication software that eliminates redundant data, thus enabling shorter backup windows, quicker recovery, lower infrastructure costs, and more robust and reliable data protection.

Imation said Nine Technology will continue to operate as a standalone service provider of data protection offerings and will be a strategic partner.

“Imation's acquisition of this important data deduplication technology is another major step in our scalable storage growth strategy,” Ian Williams, Imation's vice president of global marketing and product management, said in a statement. “We chose to acquire this technology because we recognize the power of block-level deduplication. This will be one of the key differentiating features of Imation's data protection portfolio for small and medium businesses.”

In January, Imation announced plans to shift its focus back to growth opportunities in data storage, protection, and connectivity. Imation, in recent years, had billed itself as a “brand and product management” company.

The latest acquisition is Imation's fifth this year, following its March acquisition of Encryptx Corporation, its June acquisition of MXI Security, its August acquisition of ProStor Systems, and its October acquisition of the data storage hardware business of IronKey-all of which were data storage-related acquisitions.

Imation is among Minnesota's 30-largest public companies based on revenue, which totaled $1.46 billion in 2010. Its brand portfolio includes Imation, Memorex, XtremeMac, and TDK Life on Record.