Paradigm sues Techsia (April 2005)

Paradigm sues Techsia (April 2005)

French software house is accused of ‘misappropriating’ code from the Geolog well log data management tool in its Techlog product.

Paradigm is suing French software minnow Techsia in the US for alleged copyright infringement. According to Paradigm, Techsia ‘misappropriated’ code from Paradigm’s Geolog well log data management program, and is now marketing and selling the infringing code in Techsia’s ‘Techlog’. Techlog offers well log QC tools, facies analysis, an ‘alternative’ log interpretation technique and a core data interpretation module developed in collaboration with Total.

Damages

The suit seeks damages and an injunction to prevent Techsia from marketing and selling any product infringing Paradigm’s copyright. The suit raises many interesting issues stemming from different legal treatments of software ‘patentability’. In the US, software patents are readily granted (see last month’s lead on the Halliburton patent) and in the EU, patenting software has hitherto been impossible—although this is currently under review.

Relative strengths

Another aspect of Paradigm’s action is whether a small European company can afford to defend such a suit in the US—irrespective of the intrinsic merits of the case.

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