Software Copyright - PQ Systems v Aughton
Author Evan-Amos Licence Public Domain Source Wikimedia Commons Jane Lambert Business and Property Courts , Intellectual Property List (chD) (Mr Justice Zacaroli PQ Systems Europe Ltd and another v Aughton and another [2023] EWHC 581 (Pat) This was an action for copyright infringement and breach of confidence. The claimants were two software houses, one English and the other American, which were at the relevant time owned by the same shareholder. The English company was PQ Systems Europe Ltd ("PQSE") and the American one was Productivity-Quality Systems Inc. The first defendant was one Jeff Aughton ("Mr Aughton"). He had been an employee and director of PQSE The second defendant was a company owned by the first defendant and his wife called Factoria Ltd. The Claimants' Software The claimants accused Mr Aughton of copying their software. That software was statistical process control ("SPC") and gauge management software. SPC ...