Synopsys handed $30m damages in software dispute

A US court has awarded software company Synopsys more than $30 million in damages after ruling that rival ATopTech infringed copyright it owns covering software for analysing digital circuits.

In a ruling handed down yesterday, March 10, the US District Court for the Northern District of California awarded Synopsis $30.4 million in damages.

According to the court, Synopsys proved that ATopTech infringed copyright that covers the PrimeTime program it operates and that it had lost profits due to the infringement.

PrimeTime is a tool for static timing analysis—a simulation method of computing the expected timing of a digital circuit without requiring a simulation of the full circuit.

Synopsys’ 2013 complaint claimed that ATopTech’s Aprisa product copied elements of PrimeTime’s command set. In yesterday’s ruling, the court backed its claims.

Synopsys was awarded $22 million to account for lost profits and $8.4 million for profits that ATopTech made through the infringement.

ATopTech put forward a fair use argument, but it was rejected.

Synopsys’ complaint also included claims of patent infringement, which will be heard in February next year.