Symantec responds to suit with fix
Symantec says it has fixed a version of its software that allegedly infringed upon the copyrights of its rival CyberMedia.
The U.S. Federal Court in San Jose, California ordered Symantec to stop shipping its Norton Uninstall Deluxe. CyberMedia said that the court found that CyberMedia is likely to succeed in proving that Symantec infringes upon Cybermedia's copyright.
But Symantec said it has already created a clean version of the product, and therefore has already complied with this part of the Judge's hearing with no impact to business.
"We do not believe that Norton Uninstall Deluxe has ever contained code copied from Cybermedia's product," said Enrique Salem, vice president of Symantec's security and assistance unit, in a statement. "But to remove any doubt and because the code in question is so minimal, we have replaced the code because we think it is the right thing to do."
Under the court's order, Symantec must issue a "Notice of Recall" regarding Norton Uninstall Deluxe informing its distributors that distributing this product may expose them to liability as a contributory infringer. Symantec must also cease manufacturing, selling, distributing, and advertising this product and any suites and bundles containing the infringing code.
"We feel vindicated by the ruling and will be seeking a significant damages recovery at trial," said Kanwal Rekhi, CyberMedia's chairman and CEO, in a statement.
CyberMedia filed suit against Symantec in February asserting claims of copyright infringement and theft of trade secrets. According to the suit, the computer code in Symantec's product, Norton Uninstall Deluxe, was derived from CyberMedia's UnInstaller program.
Symantec plans to contact distributors to ensure they do not distribute copies of Norton Uninstall Deluxe that contain the infringing code. "Our shipment of the clean room version and our ability to update all end users provides all our customers with code that complies with the order," Salem said. "We will comply."