Brussels, 02/03/2011 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has decided to go on the counter attack in the Systran case by lodging an appeal to the Court of Justice of the EU on 28 February against the EU General Court's ruling of 16 December 2010. The General Court ruled that the Commission should pay a lump sum of €12,001,000 to language translation software supplier Systran for damages suffered by the company as a result of infringement of its copyright and know-how (see EUROPE 10280).
The announcement of the move was made by Systran itself, which stated: “This appeal is limited to points of law only and the General Court decision remains enforceable”. The Commission, it said, has already paid €5,685,240 and had, in a letter dated 19 January, committed to paying the remaining damages.
The Commission was found guilty of revealing know-how held by Systran without its agreement by awarding the contract for the maintenance and linguistic updating of its automatic translation system EC-Systran Unix, a version of the Systran Unix software, designed by a subsidiary of the Systran group, to another company following a call for tenders. The lump sum covered: - total fees payable between 2004 and 2010 (€7 million); - the effect the Commission's conduct might have had on Systran's turnover during the same period (€5 million); - and compensation for non-material damage (€1,000). This ruling is a first in that the Commission was found guilty in an area in which it is supposed to ensure compliance with European law and, so, lead by example. (F.G./transl.rt)