Symantec and Microsoft bring each other to court?

Security firm Symantec has officially sued Microsoft for unauthorized use of intellectual property and breaches of licenses related to proprietary storage technology belonging to the company.

The lawsuit was filed with the District Court of West Washington District yesterday. Through this lawsuit, Symantec wants Microsoft to put a sludge on it and prevent Microsoft from continuing to use its technology.

If the court ruled in favor of Symantec, it may slow down the launch process of Windows Vista and Longhorn Server.

' We accuse Microsoft of using some of our intellectual assets that they have access to . and Microsoft has illegally used these assets in operating system products ,' Michael Schallop, Symantec's director of legal affairs, said.

The lawsuit also marks the first time Microsoft and Symantec have to go to court to resolve disputes.

The case relates primarily to Symantec's Volume Manager product - this product was formerly owned by Veritas Software, then to Symantec when it acquired Veritas. Volume Manger allows the operating system to store and manage large volumes of data.

Schallop said Microsoft received a license to use Volume Manger from Veritas in 1996 and applied the technology in Windows 2000. Microsoft continues to use and develop these technological features for Windows Server 2003. What Microsoft has developed has become a competitive product with Storage Foundation for Windows by Veritas.

Next, Microsoft illegally used this technology in Windows Vista and Longhorn Server. Therefore, Symantec decided to sue Microsoft, wanting Microsoft to stop developing, selling or disseminating this technology in Windows Vista, Longhorn Server and other infringing products.

' Microsoft's breach of agreements and intellectual property rights began after Windows 2000 was released. Microsoft is not allowed to use our own products to develop other products that compete with Symantec's own products. Microsoft has used our intellectual property, business secrets and source code to develop competitive products . '

Meanwhile, Schallop said, it was Microsoft who sued Veritas about the product itself two years ago. Microsoft claims that they have invented something that they themselves do not have.

Earlier, Symantec and Microsoft tried to resolve these disputes, but things couldn't go smoothly. ' We recently agreed to bring these disputes to court '.

A Microsoft representative confirmed the company's dispute with Symantec and efforts to reach an agreement without resorting to court. The disputes only stem from minor disagreements about contract terms with Veritas in 1996.

Hoang Dung