A complaint filed in the Northern District of California on Tuesday alleged that ConvenientPower HK Ltd. et al. “cracked” and redistributed the circuit board simulation software of Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
Cadence design platforms include “Allegro, OrCAD, PSpice, Virtuoso, and other related software and tools.” Their software provides engineers with the ability to “design, test, and simulate printed circuit boards.” The plaintiff said they own numerous copyrights on their products and has each user sign a license agreement in which they will not reproduce or redistribute Cadence’s products. Their software also “transmit[s] data to Cadence whenever they detect unauthorized alterations or uses of the product, such as when a user bypasses a technological measure by using counterfeit license files or when a user alters the software by circumventing the license mechanism.”
The plaintiff claimed that “ConvenientPower has also violated Cadence’s registered copyrights and avoided paying Cadence over $37.4 million dollars in license fees,” and Cadence found that “at least 38 machines […] were using Cadence[‘s] Software without having a valid License issued by Cadence.” Cadence asked ConvenientPower to conduct an investigation that was allegedly never done, and the defendants have “continued to use” Cadence’s software up until at least last Friday, even though they were asked to cease using the software on October 19th, 2019. Therefore, Cadence is suing on the counts of copyright infringement, circumvention of copyright protection systems, and breach of contract.
The defendants are ConvenientPower HK, Ltd., ConvenientPower US, Inc., Shenzhen Yichong Wireless Technology Co., Ltd., Sichuan Yichong Technology Co., Ltd., and E-Charging Inc.
Cadence is seeking injunctive relief preliminarily and permanently enjoining ConvenientPower, compensatory and actual damages, ConvenientPower’s profits under the Copyright Act, seizure of the illegal copies of Cadence’s software, restitution and attorney’s fees and costs.The plaintiffs are represented by Ruttenberg IP Law.
