Express Logic and Green Hills fall out over RTOS

Express Logic has filed a demand for arbitration seeking injunctive relief from Green Hills Software's marketing and distribution of its micro-velOSity RTOS product.

Express Logic has filed a demand for arbitration seeking injunctive relief from Green Hills Software's marketing and distribution of its micro-velOSity RTOS product, which includes an API that is alleged to be an illegal copy of Express Logic's copyrighted ThreadX API.

"As the author of ThreadX, I was shocked when I saw the API of micro-velOSity, which immediately appeared to me to be a blatant copy of my work", commented William E Lamie, President of Express Logic.

"Software authors invest a lot of time and expertise in creative works like ThreadX, and it's a shame if that work is copied illegally and used to mislead potential ThreadX customers".

"Under US copyright law", noted Andrew D Skale, Attorney at Law with Buchanan Ingersoll, "you cannot legally create a derivative work that has substantial similarity to the original without permission of the author".

"We've asked for an injunction to stop Green Hills from selling micro-velOSity and from misleading potential ThreadX customers".

As a reseller of ThreadX since 1998, Green Hills had extraordinarily broad access to ThreadX, and it remains a licensed reseller.

In addition, Green Hills is a licensee of ThreadX, which it uses in its Green Hills Probe hardware products.

As a reseller and a licensee, Green Hills was privy to confidential and trade secret information about the operation, characteristics, and licensees of ThreadX.

Express Logic's claim asserts that Green Hills has used this information for competitive purposes against Express Logic, and that this is a breach of confidentiality, as well as infringement of Express Logic copyrights.

Based on this alleged copyright infringement, Express Logic has demanded that Green Hills immediately stop the sale and distribution of micro-velOSity.

Express Logic alleges that Green Hills' micro-velOSity is substantially similar in expression to Express Logic's ThreadX, while significantly different from Green Hills' own velOSity, even though it's implied by name to be a size-reduced version.

If Express Logic is successful in its action, and customers who have begun using micro-velOSity are unable or unwilling to continue using it, Express Logic will help these customers make the transition from micro-velOSity to ThreadX as simply as possible, both technically and in licensing as well.

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