Adobe InDesign ordered off US shelves

A US District Court judge has ruled that Adobe Systems must stop selling its InDesign software and any other products that allegedly violate the copyright of software owned by PC software component maker Trio Systems.

Adobe, which initiated the recently settled copyright infringement claims against Russian programmer Dmitry Sklyarov, has been charged with incorporating Trio's software into an open program.

It is said to allow third-party software developers to use Trio's copyrighted database engine without a licence.

Adobe has denied that InDesign used C-Index in violation of its licences with Trio and counter sued, claiming that Trio should have known that Adobe would exceed the scope of the licence.

Henry Gradstein, attorney for Trio, said: "Adobe is one of the most aggressive copyright infringement litigants in the country, but the judge has determined that they probably violated our copyright. And instead, they deny it and accuse us of being the bad guys. It's hypocrisy in the extreme."

According to the court order, "Trio Systems had established a likelihood of success on the merits of its claim that Adobe's continued use of Trio's popular C-Index database engine constituted copyright infringement."

An Adobe spokeswoman said: "We're disappointed with the court's order. We disagree with its findings, but we will comply with it."

The company said that Trio's claims are largely moot because the release of InDesign 2.0 is expected during the first quarter of next year and that version does not include any Trio software.

Adobe will continue to distribute the product overseas because the court injunction only affects products sold in the US.

Trio is seeking damages of at least $10m for lost licensing fees from sales of InDesign and InCopy.