Misuse Counterclaim Dismissed in Adobe Software Infringement Case

摘要

A copyright and trademark infringement lawsuit challenging the defendant's unlicensed sales of Adobe software on eBay was not defeated by a counterclaim that Adobe had misused its copyrights by violating the first sale doctrine, the US District Court for the Northern District of California ruled on January 19 {Adobe Systems Inc v. Kornrumpf, ND Cal, No. 10-cv-02769-CW, 1/19/11). Dismissing the counterclaim, the court said that even if circumstances may justify an action for declaratory relief against copyright misuse, the defendant failed to establish such misuse by Adobe or by the trade association that enforces its copyrights. The court also ruled that the defendant could not avail itself of the first sale defense because it did not demonstrate that it owned the copies of the software on the discs that it sold.