It was announced on Thursday that Symantec Corporation filed suit against several alleged counterfeiters of its software. The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, alleges that a large software piracy ring, including ANYI, SILI Inc., ASP Solutions, G.T. Micro, and several individuals, committed acts of copyright and trademark infringement, fraud, false advertising, and unfair competition. The software at issue includes several different packages currently offered by Symantec, including the widely-used Norton AntiVirus software. A spokesperson for Symantec stated that “[a]side from the financial loss incurred by this activity, counterfeit software can also damage a user’s operating system due to faulty code or cause a user’s system to be wracked with security vulnerabilities,” and that “Symantec is committed to doing everything we can to protect our customers and the safety of their information, and that includes taking legal action.” According to the ag-IP-news article (link below), Symantec is seeking $15 million in damages in this case, information about other supplier affiliated with the defendants, seizure of all known counterfeit software, and an injunction against some defendants from conducting additional software-related business.

ag-IP-news Article: LINK
Symantec Press Release: LINK
New Ratings Article: LINK
Symantec Website: LINK