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''Lasercomb America, Inc. v. Reynolds'', 911 F.2d 970 (4th Cir. 1990) is an appeal filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Initially, Lasercomb filed an action against Holiday Steel for breach of contract, copyright infringement, misappropriation of trade secrets, fraud, unfair competition, and false designation of origin. The United States District Court ruled in favor of Lasercomb, awarding them punitive damages and actual damages for fraud, rejecting the defense of copyright misuse. On appeal, based on a recognition of the similarity to patent misuse, the holding was reversed, deeming the language contained in the license agreement unreasonable.〔''Lasercomb Am., Inc. v. Reynolds'', (911 F.2d 970 ) (4th Cir. 1990).〕 == Background Information == Larry Holliday and Job Reynolds worked together at Holiday Steel Rule Die Corporation. Larry Holliday was the sole shareholder and president of Holiday Steel and Job Reynolds was a computer programmer for that company. Steel rule die is used in a number of applications including the creation of creases, perforations, slits, and to cut and score paper and cardboard to be folded into cartons or boxes. Lasercomb America, Inc. was a competitor of Holiday Steel Rule Die Corporation and manufactured steel rule die for similar applications. The object of dispute was a software program developed solely by Lasercomb that eased the production of steel rule die. Lasercomb developed Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM) software known as Interact. The software allowed the user to design a template of a cardboard cutout for visualization on a computer screen. Interact effectively allowed a designer to create and coordinate the production of steel rule die. Prior to the general release of Lasercomb's Interact program, Lasercomb licensed four pre-release copies to Holiday Steel. The contract stipulated the first licensed copy of Interact would cost $35,000, the second and third $17,500, and the fourth plus any subsequent copies $2,000. In addition, the terms of the license specified that for the ninety-nine year term of the agreement, and for one year thereafter, Holiday Steel "will not write, develop, produce or sell computer assisted die making software, directly or indirectly without Lasercomb's prior written consent."〔〔Lemley, Menell, Merges and Samuelson, ''Software and Internet Law'' 3d ed. Aspen (2006).〕 Holiday Steel, after receiving the pre-release copies, circumvented the protective measures implemented by Lasercomb and made three unauthorized copies of the Interact software. Holiday Steel then proceeded to develop their own software called "PDS-1000," which was "almost entirely a direct copy of Interact, and marketed it as its own CAD/CAM die-making software."〔〔 With the direction of Holliday, the infringing activities were accomplished by Reynolds. Lasercomb, after consulting Holiday Steel, implemented "chronoguard" devices that prevented unauthorized access to Interact. Through manipulation and circumvention, Holiday Steel removed the chronoguards without authorization. In doing so, Holiday Steel misrepresented that the chronoguards were in use, even after removal. Once these actions were discovered by Lasercomb, it hastily copyrighted Interact and filed suit against Holiday Steel, Holliday, and Reynolds on March 7, 1986. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Lasercomb America, Inc. v. Reynolds」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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