EC to pay £10.2m damages for IP breach

The EC has been ordered to pay software provder after it infringed copyright law

The European Commission has been ordered to pay software provider Systran £10.2m for infringement of copyright.

Between 1997 and 2002, Systran provided the EC with translation software related to its own products, capable of operating on both the UNIX and Windows platforms.

In 2003, the EC put out a tender for the maintenance and enhancement of its translation system.

Following the tender, Systran contacted the EC to warn that its scope appeared to infringe upon its intellectual property rights.

The EC decided that Systran had not fully demonstrated that its rights were being affected by the tender, so pressed ahead with the deal.

Once the tender was awarded, Systran brought an action for damages to court. Following a lengthy legal battle, the court announced its ruling today, with the damages broken down as follows:

• £5.9m for the fees that would have been payable to Systran had the EC requested permission to use its IP rights between 2004 to 2010.
• £4.2m as compensation for the effect the loss of business may have had on the company.
• £845 as compensation for non-material damage.

The court concluded by warning the EC that the payments covered only the period from 2004 to the date of the ruling, and that if it continued to violate Systran's rights, it could be taken to court again.