Microsoft Sues Comets Over Counterfeit CDs
In a case that is bound to test the limits of matters intellectual property the software manufacturer, Microsoft, is suing UK giant retailer Comet over allegations that the entity sold counterfeit recovery discs to the public for a period of some 2 years. According to Microsoft, the bone of contention lies in the fact that Comet allegedly created copies of Windows Vista and XP recovery discs and hawked them to the public, fully knowing that they were the property of Microsoft Corporation.
Comet comes out with a lot of egg on the face in the sense that it not only comes out looking like a thug, as it knowingly infringed upon intellectual property, but also in the sense that it sold these recovery discs knowing fully well that potential buyers did not need them. In fact, the manufacturer of the hard drive already provided the recovery software and they could obtain them for free from the manufacturer – Microsoft Corporation.
The court case is not the only issue that Comet has to battle with; the entity that has been going through the wringer financially is being disposed to a private equity group Opcapita. This seems to be the culmination of a tough season for the Comet brand – the entity claims to have sought the advice of their legal counsel and claim that as far as the intellectual property issue go, their operation was all above board. How Comet manages to convince a court of law on how 94,000 sets of discs manufactured by them and sold to consumers at a retail price of £14 ( Comet claims to have grossed some £ 1.4 million in sales), over a period of some two years (March 2008 – December 2009) is definitely an interesting spectacle to behold. Microsoft sues Comets over counterfeit CDs – watch this space.