Microsoft presented damages in IP infringement case

Delhi High Court has awarded damages of Rs 19.75 lakh to Microsoft in a civil copyright infringement case. The Delhi High Court passed a judgment against the defendants-Yogesh Popat and Dyptronics of Mumbai for indulging in hard disk drive loading of pirated or unlicensed software onto assembled computers and sold to customers. The evidence presented before the court included pirated versions of Windows 98, Office 2000 and Visual Studio 6.0 illegally distributed by the defendants without any authorization.



A recent BSA-IDC study points out the impact of reduction in piracy in India. It stated that a reduction from the 70% level in 2002 to 60% by 2006 would add $2 billion to India's economy, increase local industry revenues by around $1.6 billion, generate 48,435 new high-tech, high-wage jobs and generate $92.4 million in tax revenues for the government.



Hard disk loading of pirated software is turning out to be a menace to the genuine software distribution market. The copies of the software loaded on the computer are illegal copies, amounting to infringement of the copyrights in the software. In hard disk loading, unlike genuine software, no installation support CDs, manuals, Certificate of Authenticity or alert-aLicense Agreements is provided.



Commenting on the judgment, NASSCOM President, Kiran Karnik said, "This decision should lead to more deterrence to the software piracy business as it is becoming clear that awarding damages against the infringers of intellectual property rights is a positive step in creating an IPR-friendly environment in India." The association is working effectively on an ongoing basis to train the police and the judiciary in enforcing IPR laws, also conducting numerous anti-piracy raids and other campaigns across the country.