After filtration, the Court compared the remaining expression to the defendant's work to determine infringement. If the Supreme Court should grant certiorari in this case, its review may ultimately affect how much protection computer programs are entitled to receive. In Softel , the author created a program to create interactive computer-based multimedia presentations. In 1984, Defendants Darsee and Dragon Medical licensed use of the Softel executable program on a per project basis. In late June of 1985 Darsee used the source and object code from Softel' s programs to create further programs of his own for commercial gain, without licenses.
Defendants admit copying.
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed. If the Court finds that the test impermissibly limits the proper scope of a computer program owner's rights, owners could thereby receive stronger protection of those rights in the future. The Federal Circuit reversed a district court holding that a patent was invalid for failing to disclose the best mode of a software-controlled invention. The figures of the patent also did not illustrate any means for controlling the motors. When Robotic Vision Systems sued View Engineering for patent infringement, View Engineering moved for summary judgment, arguing that the patent was invalid for failure to disclose the best mode.