International Law

Microsoft Successful in Windows Copyright Suit in Shanghai

By Stan

A local court in Shanghai ruled on Thursday that Dazhong Insurance must pay Microsoft 2.17 million yuan ($317,900) as compensation for using pirated Microsoft software, NetEase.com reported.

Court evidence showed that Shanghai-based Dazhong installed and used at least 450 sets of nine pirated Microsoft programs. Microsoft demanded that the defendant to stop the infringement and pay 2.25 million yuan in compensation. (China Daily)

This is not a groundbreaking case, but it is worth pointing out because of the size of the damage award.

First, the case is fairly straightforward, which gives me the opportunity to explain how these things are carried out. What we are talking about here is a copyright infringement case. Software in China is primarily protected by the Copyright Law (not the Patent Law), and so most civil lawsuits of pirated copies of Windows, Office, games, or any other applications, are usually copyright infringement suits.

Here’s how a case usually works:

1. Initial indication of infringement – somehow the information that an infringer is out there gets to Microsoft. Exactly how depends on their in-house setup these days. The information could come in through a retailer, wholesaler (or other distributor), employee of Microsoft, or any other interested third party (like a disgruntled employee of the infringer). Alternatively, the information could have been generated by an investigator, outside counsel, or in-house people who are tasked with IP enforcement.
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Post tags: china litigation, copyright infringement, counterfeiting, microsoft, piracy

Full post as published by China Hearsay on April 22, 2010 (boomark / email).