Microsoft sues recycling contractor after sales of stolen Office software
Sep 18, 2015, 1:15pm PDT
Ashley Stewart
Staff Writer
Puget Sound Business Journal
Microsoft is suing an electronic recycling after employees allegedly stole and sold millions of dollars worth of software that was supposed to be destroyed.
The lawsuit was filed last week with the U.S. District Court of Western Washington. Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) says Global Electronics Recycling should pay copyright damages for 70,000 copies of Office 2010 software after the company neglected to supervise employees and that software ended up on the black market.
Microsoft is suing a recycling company for allegedly allowing copies of its Office 2010 software to be stolen and then sold on the black market.
This isn’t the first time Microsoft has sued a recycling company.
The strategy is to enforce its copyright no matter the size of the company. If Microsoft lets the alleged thefts go, it would suggest the company doesn’t care about its trademarks and make them harder to enforce.
Microsoft earlier this year sued a Tampa recycling company for selling computers with unauthorized copies of Windows 7.
This most recent lawsuit names Arizona-based GER and its owners, Danny and Gary Kirkpatrick, alleging they “acted, at a minimum, with willful blindness to” Microsoft’s rights and are therefore liable for copyright damages.
The primary complaints are that the company violated its contract with Microsoft and acted with negligence when it failed to supervise employees and protect Microsoft property.
Microsoft wants the court to order GER to pay for all copyright damage. Microsoft believes as many as 10 employees were responsible for the actual sale and distribution of the stolen software.
