PQ Systems Europe Ltd & Anor. v Jeff Aughton & Anor.

PQ Systems Europe Ltd & Anor. v Jeff Aughton & Anor.

ProSPC was written by Mr Aughton in the course of his employment with PQ, making PQ the owner of copyright and confidential information. Mr Aughton copied a substantial part of ProSPC when writing InSPC v1, and subsequently copied from InSPC v1 when writing InSPC v2, infringing PQ's copyright and breaching his contractual duties of confidence. The evidence of copying was established by circumstantial evidence, similarities in code structure, and adverse inferences from deletion of source code.

Parties
Claimant: PQ Systems Europe Ltd; Claimant: Productivity-Quality Systems, Inc.; Defendant: Jeff Aughton; Defendant: Factoria Ltd
Jurisdiction
England and Wales
Judgment Date
22 March 2023
Procedural Posture
Intellectual Property Copyright Infringement / Judgment After Trial on Liability
Outcome
Claim allowed; liability for copyright infringement and breach of confidence established against Mr Aughton and Factoria Ltd.
Legal Topics
Copyright in Computer Software, Breach of Confidence, Ownership of Employee Created Works, Infringement by Copying, Expert Evidence in Software Cases
Intellectual Property Employment Law Contract Law Copyright in Computer Software Breach of Confidence Ownership of Employee Created Works Infringement by Copying Expert Evidence in Software Cases

Case Brief

Summary, issues, holding and outcome

More case intelligence is available

Unlock the full research layer for this judgment.

Full judgment text Downloadable case file Legal principles 6 Authorities cited 7 Party arguments 2
Sign in to unlock

Parties

PQ Systems Europe Ltd

Claimant

Productivity-Quality Systems, Inc.

Claimant

Jeff Aughton

Defendant

Factoria Ltd

Defendant

Procedural Posture

Intellectual Property Copyright Infringement / Judgment After Trial on Liability

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether copyright and confidential information in ProSPC are owned by PQ
  2. 2 Whether InSPC v1 was copied from ProSPC, infringing copyright or misusing confidential information
  3. 3 Whether InSPC v2 was copied from ProSPC, directly or indirectly

Ratio Decidendi

ProSPC was written by Mr Aughton in the course of his employment with PQ, making PQ the owner of copyright and confidential information. Mr Aughton copied a substantial part of ProSPC when writing InSPC v1, and subsequently copied from InSPC v1 when writing InSPC v2, infringing PQ's copyright and breaching his contractual duties of confidence. The evidence of copying was established by circumstantial evidence, similarities in code structure, and adverse inferences from deletion of source code.

Court Disposition

Claim allowed; liability for copyright infringement and breach of confidence established against Mr Aughton and Factoria Ltd.

Orders

  • Declaration that PQ owns copyright and confidential information in ProSPC
  • Declaration that Mr Aughton infringed copyright and breached confidence in writing InSPC v1 and InSPC v2