Monday July 31 5:28 PM ET
Motorola Sues to Stop Software Sales on eBay
Motorola Sues to Stop Software Sales on eBay
By Susan Kelly CHICAGO (Reuters) - Motorola Inc. (NYSE:MOT - news) said on Monday it
filed lawsuits in federal courts in several states to stop the
sale of its radio service software on the online auction site
eBay (NasdaqNM:EBAY - news). The software is a computer program used with IBM-compatible
computers to program Motorola's two-way radios. Schaumburg,
Ill.-based Motorola licenses the software to its partners and
customers on a restricted basis. The suits, which allege copyright infringement, were filed
in federal courts in California, New Jersey, New York and Texas. Without its consent, the company said, five defendants
acquired radio service software for many of Motorola's two-way
radio models and advertised and sold the software via eBay. ``We don't see any reason why pirates should benefit when
our loyal customers are doing what they are they are supposed to
do,'' Kip Schwartz, an attorney representing Motorola, told
Reuters. Motorola said it was seeking monetary damages and an
injunction to stop sales of the software, adding that it
intended to pursue additional lawsuits as it identifies new
violators. EBay attorney Jay Monahan said eBay invited Motorola to
participate in a program designed to identify items that may
infringe copyrights, but Motorola did not fill out a
notice-of-infringement form posted on the Web site. ``I was surprised to read about the lawsuit when they had
not taken advantage of our offer to cooperate,'' Monahan said. EBay does not routinely monitor items listed for sale on its
site for possible copyright infringement but will cooperate with
rights owners who report such a problem and remove items when a
legitimate claim is made, he said. ``We're not in a position to identify what is Motorola
software, let alone what is infringing software,'' Monahan said.
''One would have to be an expert on their product to know what
is a Motorola product and whether it is infringing.'' Schwartz said Motorola is willing to participate in eBay's
internal program as part of its overall copyright enforcement
effort, but did not see it as an ``exclusive remedy.'' Shares of Motorola ended up 1/16 at 33-1/16 in afternoon
trade on the New York Stock Exchange.
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