Symantec Corp. v. CD Micro, Inc.

286 F. Supp. 2d 1265, 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23253, 2003 WL 22349095
CourtDistrict Court, D. Oregon
DecidedJuly 8, 2003
DocketCivil 02-406-KI
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 286 F. Supp. 2d 1265 (Symantec Corp. v. CD Micro, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Symantec Corp. v. CD Micro, Inc., 286 F. Supp. 2d 1265, 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23253, 2003 WL 22349095 (D. Or. 2003).

Opinion

OPINION

KING, District Judge.

Plaintiffs Symantec Corporation and Quarterdeck Corporation (together, “Sym-antec/Quarterdeck”) allege that CD Micro, Inc., and its Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”), defendant Vincent Webb, are unlawfully procuring, copying, and selling Symantec/Quarterdeck software products. Symantec/Quarterdeck allege claims for trademark infringement, unfair competition and trademark counterfeiting under the Lanham Act, and copyright infringement. Before the court is Symantec Corporation’s and Quarterdeck Corporation’s Motion for Summary Judgment or, in the *1268 alternative, Partial Summary Judgment (# 145). For the reasons below, I grant the motion finding CD Micro liable but defer ruling on damages.

OBJECTIONS TO EVIDENCE

As a preliminary matter, I reviewed CD Micro’s Objection to Evidence Submitted although I will not make express rulings on each objection. Some of the objections are more in the nature of argument against Symantec/Quarterdeck’s motion and will be considered as such. Other hearsay objections are objecting to actions, which are not hearsay, or objecting to evidence that I will use for notice purposes rather than for the truth of the matter asserted, such as e-mail complaints Sym-antec received from people who purchased the software at issue here. Some evidence to which CD Micro objects, such as the first two paragraphs of the Quirino Declaration, is also available from other witnesses in forms that are not objectionable. CD Micro also objects to some evidence because it does not believe that it is true. For example, CD Micro states that it never received the letters that Joyce Cartun states that she sent. This is no reason to strike evidence but will be considered as to whether a factual issue exists. Finally, CD Micro objects to the Declarations of Chris Fain and Gordon Dillard and recounts facts which would provide support for an argument that they are biased against the company. The analysis below does not rely on any evidence provided by either Fain or Dillard.

Symantec/Quarterdeck also objected to some of the evidence proffered by CD Micro. Many of their objections concern evidence on which I do not rely for lack of relevance. Some evidence drawing objection, such as the fact that CD Micro also sells software under license agreements, is not relevant but I have included it as some background information about the company. I disagree with Syman-tec/Quarterdeck’s objection that Steve Daniel’s statements concerning the glass mastering process for replicating CDs are improper opinion testimony because Daniel has not been qualified as an expert. Daniel is Vice President of a company that replicates software and owns the equipment about which he is testifying. That is sufficient personal knowledge to support his testimony.

FACTS

Symantec creates, publishes, and manufactures software designed to protect the security of personal computers. Symantec acquired Quarterdeck on November 16, 1998. Quarterdeck became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Symantec on March 30,1999.

CD Micro sells software. Vincent Webb is its CEO and majority shareholder. CD Micro acquires licenses to replicate and sell software on the Internet. It also purchases software in bulk on the open market for resale to the public on the Internet.

William Plante, Symantec’s Director of World Wide Security and Brand Protection, explained Symantec’s process for protecting its intellectual property and selling its software.

Symantec holds Certificates of Registration for the following trademarks: Syman-tec®, Norton SystemWorks®, Norton An-tivirus®, Norton Utilities®, and Norton Ghost®. Quarterdeck holds the Certificate of Registration for Cleansweep®. Symantec’s computer software products include Norton SystemWorks® 2001 and 2002 Professional Editions, which are suites of six separate software products including the four trademarked products just listed.

Symantec holds copyright registrations for Norton Antivirus®, Norton Utilities®, and Norton Ghost®. Quarterdeck holds *1269 the copyright registration for Clean-sweep®.

Symantec contracts with DisCopyLabs (“DCL”) to manufacture and distribute Norton SystemWorks® 2001 and 2002 Professional Editions within the United States. Symantec has a similar relationship with a company named Saturn for distribution outside the United States. Symantec supplies the silk-screen, digital art, and the computer program master to DCL. DCL ensures that the CDs are reproduced according to Symantec’s standards. DCL puts the CDs and manuals in packaging designed by Symantec, shrink wraps the box, and ships it according to Symantec instructions.

Symantec also sells some OEM products, that is software without packaging that is bundled with computer hardware. CD Micro submitted copies of another Symantec product, Norton Internet Security 2002, which Webb contends is authentic and which is marked on the label as an OEM product for distribution with new Compaq computers. Symantec’s web site discusses its Manufacturers License Program for several products. Norton Sys-temWorks® Professional Edition is not one of the products mentioned as being available for OEM distribution. In reply to the reference to the Manufacturers License Program, Plante confirms that Norton SystemWorks® Professional Edition software is not now and has never been available to anyone as an OEM product.

Symantec sells Norton SystemWorks® 2001 or 2002 Professional Editions to its distributors at more than $40 per copy. It does not control the resale price and does not sell directly to end users. If a customer is interested in purchasing the software, Symantec directs them to a web site owned by a third party, Digital River, which Symantec licensed to sell the software to end users over the Internet. From September 2001 through March 2002, Plante personally received unsolicited e-mail offers from CD Micro to purchase Norton SystemWorks® 2001 or 2002 Professional Editions at the Free Irewards web site at prices between $19.95 and $29.95. The low prices and marketing method caused Symantec to suspect the authenticity of the product. Symantec was contacted in December 2002 by customers who purchased Norton SystemWorks® 2001 Professional Edition from CD Micro. The customers complained of defects in the copies they had purchased which they believed to be authorized versions.

There are only four authorized replicators in the United States of the 2001 and 2002 Professional Editions of Norton Sys-temWorks®: DCL, Warner-Electra Manufacturing (“Warner”), Ritek Global Media/MRT (“Ritek”), and Maxell Corporation (“Maxell”). Legitimate software versions replicated by one of these four have particular characteristic marks on the disk or CD.

In February and March 2002, Plante directed investigators from Brand Protection Associates to order 31 copies (“Brand Protection Disks”) of Norton System-Works® 2002 Professional Edition from CD Micro at its Free-Irewards web site. CD Micro shipped the software without Symantec boxes, manuals, or other materials. Instead, the software was packaged in CD Micro — Free Irewards plastic cases. Plante inspected these Brand Protection Disks. They all had the six trademarks held by Symantec/Quarterdeck affixed to them.

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286 F. Supp. 2d 1265, 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23253, 2003 WL 22349095, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/symantec-corp-v-cd-micro-inc-ord-2003.