IBM, Xinuos Spar on Appeal Over Nature of Copyright Fight (1)

Software company Xinuos Inc. faced a skeptical three-judge Second Circuit panel Monday over whether IBM rightly thwarted Xinuous’ copyright suit over software that it acquired from an IBM collaborator.

During oral arguments the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit also probed IBM’s counsel regarding Xinuos’ argument that its infringement claims were improperly treated as an ownership question despite there being no ownership dispute—an issue critical to the lower court’s determination that Xinuous’ lawsuit was untimely.

The court’s ultimate decision could to come down to how the three-judge panel wrestles with whether time-bar rules for ownership claims can possibly ...