Lotus wins round - Lotus Development Corp.'s copyright suit against Borland International Inc - Field Report: Industry - Brief Article

Software Magazine, Sept, 1992 by Mike Bucken

Borland International, Inc., Scotts Volley, Calif., expunged the Lotus l-2-3-compliant menu command structure from its Quattro Pro spreadsheet just two days after a federal judge ruled the features violated a copyright held by Lotus Development Corp., Cambridge, Mass.

Nevertheless, a Borland spokesman contended that the firm maintains its position that the Quattro Pro offering does not violate copyright law, and plans to continue fighting the lawsuit and pressing for a trial to be decided by a federal jury. Judge Robert Keeton, who issued the decision, seheduled a conference on that request for later this month. In his 49-page decision, however, Keeton said, "I conclude that no reasonable jury, applying the law, could find other than that the Quattro programs infringe 1-2-3."

Borland officials said the firm was prepared for the recent ruling, noting that Keeton also ruled two years ago that Paperback Software, Inc., Berkeley, Calif., had violated a Lotus copyright in a similar lawsuit. Borland contended that the new versions of the spreadsheet will not substantially hurt sales, as internal surveys found that fewer than 10% of Quattro Pro customers utilize the 1-2-3-compliant features.

Lotus, meanwhile, lauded the move as "a very strong opinion." In a statement, Vice President and General Counsel Thomas Lemberg said, "The opinion affirms the copyrightability of" the menu features of 1-2-3. v]