NOTÍCIAS
The 5th Civil Section of the Court of Justice of the State of Rio Grande do Sul (TJ-RS) has ruled against a furniture store in a software infringement lawsuit, ordering it to pay damages in an amount equal to 10 times the market value of each software used without a license.
The lawsuit was filed by several technology companies after they supposedly identified that certain software they owned was being used by the store without a license.
The claim for damages was denied in the first level of judgment, since it was then understood that there was no sufficient evidence to attest the infringement alleged by the technology companies. However, the decision was overturned by the TJ-RS, which considered that the burden of proof of such irregularities was not with the companies owners of the software.
According to the Rapporteur of the case, the expert report issued on the proceeding as a result of the examination made on the computers of the furniture store indicated the use of 31 copies of 10 different computer programs, all owned by the plaintiff companies, which led to the unfavorable decision against the furniture store, considering that it was unable to prove the regularity of the software licenses by means of an agreement or invoices for the acquisition of licenses.
For further information, please contact:
Rafael Pessoa
