NEC vs. Inteh The Landmark Microcode Legal Decision Geaxold R. Johnson Judge William P. Gray's judgment dated February 6, 1989 is certainly the landmark legal decision concerning microprogramming and copyrightability. I know that many of you axe aware, through press coverage, of his decisions, but I thought you might be interested in reading in its entirety not only the judgment, but also the m e m o r a n d u m of decision that backs up his judgment. Therefore, I have attached copies of both of his documents. I have taken the liberty of retyping them to make them more compact for publication in our Newsletter. I hope that you find them interesting and thought provoking. Sigmicro has had numerous debates concerning legal issues surrounding microprogramming. Most of these debates were triggered by this case. We are planning to continue the discussion at Micro-22 in Dublin. I will summarize any conclusions for inclusion in the Sigmicro Newsletter following the Workshop. UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA NEC C O R P O R A T I O N , a Japanese corporation, and NEC E L E C T R O N I C S , INC., a California corporation, Plaintiff, VS. NO. C-84-20799-WPG I N T E L C O R P O R A T I O N , a California corporation, Defendant. JUDGEMENT For reasons set forth in the M e m o r a n d u m of Decision filed on this date, IT IS A D J U D G E D that: I. T h e Intel microcode for its 8086 and 8088 microprocessors - Copyright Registration N u m b e r s T X 988-844, T X 953-801, issued in August 1982, and as amended in M a r c h 1985, T X 1-521-507, T X U 186-617, and T X U 186-616 - were proper subjects for protection under United States copyright laws. 2. Intel did forfeit the above copyrights it had obtained because more than a relatively small n u m b e r of copies of product distributed by its authority did not contain the copyright notice prescribed by 17 U.S.C. 401, because Intel failed to m a k e a reasonable effort to cause such notice to be added to those copies after the omission had been discovered within the meaning of 17 U.S.C. 405, and because those copies were distributed at times w h e n no express requirement in writing, within the meaning of 17 U.S.C. 405, mandated such marking. 3. T h e microcodes that N E C produced for its V20, VJ0, V 4 0 and V 5 0 microprocessors do not infringe the Intel copyrights for its 8086 and 8088 microcodes. 4. N E C ' s V 2 0 and V 3 0 microprocessors are not simply "improvements" upon its /.~PD 8086 and /.~PD 8088 microprocessors, which were licensed by Intel under its copyrights. Each party shall bear its o w n costs. DATED: February 6, 1989. WILLIAM P. GRAY United States District Judge
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The landmark microcode legal decision
Johnson, G. R.
Follow ACM SIGMICRO Newsletter
, Volume 20 (2)
Association for Computing Machinery – Jun 1, 1989
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