Common Software Licensing Language At Issue In IP Dispute

Licensors of software typically utilize software license agreements providing for their ownership of the licensed software and related IP, as well as restrictions barring licensees from reverse engineering the code at issue. The scope of protection, of course, depends on the final language of the licensing agreement and disputes can arise when licensees decide to develop similar software in-house, or with a third party. Indeed, a recent case, Ford Motor Co. v. Versata Software Inc., No. 15-10628 (E.D. Mich. Sept. 7, 2018), tackled some of these issues.

In this case, a Michigan district court found that broad and general software ownership provisions extended to trade secrets embedded in the software at issue, but that a fairly expansive definition of "reverse engineering" might not be broad enough to cover certain activities associated with developing similar software. Ultimately issues of fact precluded many of the grants of summary judgment that both parties