LONDON, July 23, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Today the High Court of Justice handed down a ruling that World Programming Ltd. (WPL) infringed software developer SAS Institute Inc.'s copyright in its SAS(R) documentation. The court also found that WPL acted outside the scope of its license agreement for SAS Learning Edition (http://support.sas.com/learn/le/index.html) software by using that product to develop WPL's World Programming System (WPS) software. The court referred questions to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for clarification on whether such use was permitted.
In the case, SAS alleged that WPL violated several SAS copyrights by copying SAS manuals and source code. The court found that the manual for WPL's WPS software infringed the copyright in the SAS manuals. In order to resolve the question of whether the WPS software itself infringed SAS copyrights, the court has referred several questions of copyright law to the ECJ.
SAS General Counsel John Boswell said, WPL issued a press release contending that they 'secured a major legal victory' in this case. This announcement was surprising in that the decisions the court handed down were related to the violation of SAS' copyright on its manuals. Other decisions have not been made. They raise uncertain questions of law and have therefore been referred to the ECJ. We feel compelled to address the inaccuracies in the news release issued by WPL.
Boswell added, SAS invests hundreds of millions of dollars in research and development every year. Protecting the intellectual property created by the dedicated and talented employees of SAS is of paramount importance. We will vigorously pursue the remaining issues in this case and look forward to getting clarification from the ECJ.
About SAS
SAS is the leader in business analytics ( http://www.sas.com/businessanalytics/) software and services, and the largest independent vendor in the business intelligence market. Through innovative solutions delivered within an integrated framework, SAS helps customers at more than 45,000 sites improve performance and deliver value by making better decisions faster. Since 1976 SAS has been giving customers around the world THE POWER TO KNOW(R). SAS and all other SAS Institute Inc. product or service names are registered trademarks or trademarks of SAS Institute Inc. in the USA and other countries. (R) indicates USA registration. Other brand and product names are trademarks of their respective companies. Copyright (c) 2010 SAS Institute Inc. All rights reserved.
Editorial Contacts: Desiree Adkins, SAS desiree.adkins@sas.com +1-919-531-0736 Visit the SAS Press Center: http://www.sas.com/presscenter Andy West, Hotwire Andy.West@hotwirepr.com +44-7974-161162
SOURCE: SAS
CONTACT: Editorial Contacts: Desiree Adkins, SAS, desiree.adkins@sas.com,+1-919-531-0736; Andy West, Hotwire, Andy.West@hotwirepr.com,+44-7974-161162
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