Property rights hardening

This is the second company sued by the alliance (BSA) for software piracy, following the first lawsuit filed in late 2013.

Located in the southern province of Binh Duong’s Thuan An town, Trimmers Vietnam specialises in manufacturing garment accessories and bags. It has been accused by Microsoft for illegal use of a variety of patented software, with a cumulative worth of VND748 million ($35,120), in its business operations.

On September 26, 2013, authorities found Trimmers Vietnam in violation of intellectual property regulations relating to software copyright, following an ad hoc inspection at the firm.

Out of the 41 computers checked, the majority were found to be using unlicensed software belonging to Microsoft, Adobe Autodesk and Lac Viet, all members of the BSA.

During the inspection, Trimmers Vietnam’s representative signed the inspection minutes, admitting that its illegal use of software infringed the law and vowing to terminate its violation and pay compensation to the copyright owners. However, the company subsequently refused to halt the illegal activity.

“Over the past two years, we have been trying to work with Trimmers Vietnam, but have failed due to the company’s refusal,” said Rebecca Ho, senior IP Corporate Officer of Microsoft in Southeast Asia.

In order to settle this intellectual property right infringement through civil sanctions, BSA and Microsoft have decided to bring the case to the Binh Duong People’s Court. The court accepted the case on May 29, 2015 and will initiate mediation on July 2, 2015.

“We have suffered heavy financial losses from Trimmers Vietnam’s illegal use of our software. We strongly believe that our legitimate rights will be protected by Vietnam’s laws,” she stressed.

Tarun Sawney, BSA’s senior director for Anti-Piracy in the Asia-Pacific, said the alliance may yet file numerous lawsuits against other enterprises in Vietnam for software piracy.

“Many foreign enterprises are using unlicensed software in Vietnam. We issue warnings to cease such activity. If they do not stop, we will use all means available in Vietnamese law to protect our legitimate interests,” Sawney said.

“When doing business in Vietnam, foreign enterprises understand that they must respect intellectual property rights here. They also have sufficient funds to buy licensed software. But they still knowingly violate such rights,” he said.

An example he cited was of a Japanese pharmaceutical firm: when authorities inspected the office, they found that all 25 of the office computers were using illegal software, despite the fact that the firm had a global turnover of over $500 million in the previous year.

According to BSA, software piracy has a negative impact on Vietnam’s investment climate and diverts huge amounts from state coffers in tax revenues. Also, aside from creating unhealthy competition, using unlicensed software exposes users to security threats from malware and other digital viruses.

Headquartered in Washington DC, BSA is the leading advocate for the global software industry before governments and in the international marketplace.