Synercom Tech. v. University Computing Co.
| Citation | 462 F. Supp. 1003 |
| Decision Date | 24 August 1978 |
| Docket Number | Civ. A. No. CA-3-77-1455-G. |
| Parties | SYNERCOM TECHNOLOGY, INC. v. UNIVERSITY COMPUTING COMPANY and Engineering Dynamics, Inc. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Texas |
D. Arlon Groves and Ray G. Wilson of Bard & Groves, Houston, Tex., for plaintiff.
Thomas L. Cantrell of Schley & Cantrell, Stanley R. Moore of Crisman & Moore, Dallas, Tex., for defendants; W. Frederick Denkman of McClendon & Denkman, Metairie, La., of counsel.
This case presents claims of copyright infringement of instruction manuals and input formats used with a computer program designed to solve engineering problems incident to the analysis of structures.1
The analysis of building structures under anticipated or actual conditions of use including the necessary strength of materials and design has for many years required numerous calculations and hundreds of hours of engineering time in the case of larger structures. Structural analysis is a sufficiently matured science that its analytical discipline calls for numerous essentially arithmetical and rote but time-consuming calculations. The grooved character of the discipline is further reinforced by the circumstance that most structures are made of materials with well known properties.
By the early 1960s, engineers had begun to use computers to perform many of these tasks. Given standardization of engineering principles underlying structural analysis, the relatively rote nature of their application, and the large markets for structural analysis, computer programs for structural analysis followed naturally.2 A rudimentary knowledge of computers, the history of programs and the necessary tasks in program usage are an essential backdrop to the claims.
We are here concerned exclusively with digital computers.
Most digital computers have five functional components: (1) input; (2) storage of the input by memory; (3) a control unit which receives data from memory and gives instructions for the arithmetic; (4) an arithmetic which carries out the control's commands; and (5) an output capability.
The computer program in a general sense instructs the computer regarding the things it is to do. In the industry, the physical machinery is referred to as hardware and the instructional material as software. In using a program one must have a format for input so that the input of data and the instruction to the computer are compatible with its program.
IBM by the early 1960s had developed a program for use in structural analysis called IBM FRAN (IBM 7090-7094 FRAN Framed Structure Analysis Program). IBM claimed no proprietary interest in FRAN and by 1965 FRAN, together with a "user's manual" prepared by IBM, were in the public domain. Other programs were also being developed including "STRUDL" developed at MIT, MAGIC, developed by Bell Aerospace, and SAP, developed at Berkeley.
Synercom, the plaintiff, is a Texas corporation formed in 1969 by James W. Bridges, Evan B. Pappas, and Douglas M. King, all engineers and former employees in Houston of McDonnell Automation Company (McAuto), an engineering consulting firm.
McAuto at one time employed over 100 engineers but by 1969 that number had dropped to about 50. McAuto used the FRAN program developed by IBM and published the "McDonnell FRAN Manual" on August 1, 1965. McAuto claimed no proprietary rights to its manual and made it available to its customers.
McAuto engaged in the "software" end of the computer business, as later did Synercom and EDI, a defendant. The marketing arrangements among an engineering firm, a program seller, and a hardware supplier usually took the form of a market triad. The software peddler would sell to engineers the value of its program which with McAuto was (with some changes to be discussed) the old IBM-created FRAN program. The engineer would be schooled in the usage of the input formats so that he could gather the correct data and collate it for submission to a computer. The program would be stored in the memory of a computer owned by a "hardware company" such as University Computing Company (UCC). UCC would charge the engineering firm for the computer time, remitting part of that fee to the software owner as a royalty for use of the program.
The IBM FRAN program, although the progenitor of the program owned by Synercom (STRAN) was not well received in the marketplace. IBM's incentive to create the program was to generate customers for its computers. FRAN, however, was complex and difficult to use. Marketing the program required training of customer's engineers in its usage, a costly and time-consuming effort. Moreover, a substantial part of FRAN was usable only with IBM's 7090/7094 computer. McAuto did make changes in assembly language necessary to allow FRAN's use on the faster computers. This increase in speed (and reduced cost) and explanatory material for the using engineer helped but did not solve the problem. McAuto's FRAN remained complex and enjoyed little success in the market.
In May 1969, Bridges, Pappas, and King left McAuto and formed Synercom. This departure was on a friendly basis and Synercom became a customer of McAuto, at least for some services, but a competitor for others, principally the computerized structural analysis market.
Synercom believed that if access to the complex program could be made easier for the user, there was a substantial market for computerized structural analysis. The users of the program were usually design engineers but were often unsophisticated in the mysteries of the programs. Success of the Synercom strategy turned on development of instructional manuals and input formats that gave greater access to the program with less knowledge of the user— the simpler the input methods, the greater the market.
Using the IBM STRAN Manual, the McAuto improvements of that manual and other expert data, Synercom developed a new manual (now in its fourth edition) and new input formats. Unlike McAuto, Synercom has attempted to retain proprietary rights by copyright registration and notice. That effort has spawned this controversy. Synercom also made improvements in the IBM FRAN program (to be discussed in more detail later), but continued to use its solution algorithm.
In November of 1969, Synercom, then six months old, offered STRAN Program on a Control Data Corporation (CDC) 6600 series computer.3 This first sales effort in the fall of 1969 was launched without a user's manual. By November 1970, Synercom, after considerable work, offered an "expanded" version of STRAN bearing the number 4001-1-1 accompanied by the first edition of the manual and bearing the notice . The title page of all copies of the "1st Edition" STRAN User's Manual carried the notice . The "1st Edition" STRAN User's Manual was printed in the United States by Gino's Prints, Houston, Texas, and was published (within the meaning of Title 17, U.S. Code) on October 8, 1970. Before preparation of the "1st Edition" STRAN User's Manual, a preliminary draft copy of the manual was prepared by Synercom but all copies bore the notice . It was never publicly distributed. The exact number of the preliminary draft copies is not known, but few were made. Indeed only 120 copies of the "1st Edition" STRAN User's Manual were printed.
The STRAN User's Manual, Second Edition, was printed in the United States by Gallery Printing Company, Houston, Texas, and was published on October 15, 1971. Only 300 copies of the second edition were printed and few were distributed. The title pages all carried the notice "(copyright symbol) Copyright, Synercom Technology, Inc. 1971 All Rights Reserved" and bore the number 401-1-3.
The first printing of the STRAN User's Manual, Third Edition, was printed in the United States by L. R. Golson, Houston, Texas, and published before September 18, 1973. Only 300 copies of the third edition were printed and few were distributed. The title pages of all copies carried the notice and bore the number 401-1-3. This development of the manual program changes and related efforts required approximately four man years at a cost in the range of $100,000.
The STRAN program (as detailed in the 1973 third edition of the user's manual) and the original FRAN program of IBM as modified by McAuto had substantial differences both in techniques for use and in product. STRAN had a greater analytical capacity such as final stress analysis calculation to determine compliance with applicable codes and specifications. At the same time the input for STRAN was more easily collated resulting in less training time for users. STRAN was also more efficient in its output. For example, FRAN's output could fill boxes with calculations which STRAN could achieve with a few pages.
STRAN's input formats were unique. Many of the same...
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