Focus on copyright litigation

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Jury Verdict in PowerRPC and JRPC Copyright Infringement Lawsuit

Jury Verdict in PowerRPC and JRPC Copyright Infringement Lawsuit

A federal jury entered a verdict of copyright infringement against Chordiant Software, Inc. for infringing the copyrights of PowerRPC and JRPC technologies in the Chordiant Marketing Director product.

Jury Verdict in PowerRPC and JRPC Copyright Infringement Lawsuit
San Jose, CA, May 17, 2010 --(PR.com)-- An eight-member jury returned a unanimous verdict in a computer software copyright infringement lawsuit in the Federal District Court of the Northern District of California, San Jose Division. The jury found that defendant Chordiant Software, Inc. (“Chordiant”) infringed the copyrights in four software technologies developed by plaintiffs Dr. Dongxiao Yue ("Dr. Yue") and Netbula, LLC. The jury awarded actual damages as well as defendant’s profits attributable to infringement.

In 2007, Dr. Yue discovered that Chordiant was copying the PowerRPC software in the Chordiant Marketing Director (“CMD”) product. In January 2008, Dr. Yue filed the lawsuit based on the infringement of PowerRPC. In May 2009, Chordiant admitted also copying the JRPC software. The trial commenced on April 27, 2010 included copyright infringement claims on both PowerRPC and JRPC technologies.

"Legal protection of intellectual property is the lifeblood of the IT industry,” a Netbula spokesperson said. "This verdict shows that our society values intellectual property and its protection. We will continue to vigorously defend our intellectual property rights against all infringers; no matter how big they are and how much money they are willing to spend to evade the judgment of the U.S. and international laws."

Attorneys Antonio L. Cortes of the Law Offices of Antonio Cortes, Peter W. Ross and Peter Shimamoto of Browne Woods George LLP represented the plaintiffs. Fenwick & West LLP was the defense counsel. Twelve witnesses testified in the two-week jury trial, including Dr. Yue, the plaintiff; Steven Springsteel, President and CEO of Chordiant; former and current employees of Chordiant; a representative of a Chordiant customer; and two defense experts, Philip Faillace, Computer Scientist and President of Preferred Software, Inc., and Dr. Matthew Lynde, an economist at Cornerstone Research. Merrill Corporation assisted plaintiffs in the trial preparation and presentation, including the use of the technologies of the courtroom.

The trial was presided over by U.S. District Judge the Honorable James Ware. A group of guest judges observed a part of the trial proceedings.