News

NCR sues CCC, seeks copyright protection for software

January 2, 2002

According to the report, CCC defaulted on nearly $42 million it owed NCR. Dayton-based NCR wrote off the $42 million, taking a $28 million charge to its first-quarter earnings.

On June 6, CCC filed for bankruptcy. According to information from the Dayton Business Journal, CCC listed total assets of $34.27 million, with debts of $87.52 million. NCR is listed as CCC's largest debtor, with a claim of $41.07 million.

NCR's lawsuit against CCC was filed May 29 in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia.

The newspaper reports that NCR stated in its lawsuit that it sold 5,400 ATMs to CCC and believes the company may still have more than 2,100 of them valued at more than $10 million. NCR claims that it granted CCC the right to the ATM hardware but not to the software.

Judge Stewart Dalzell ruled June 1 that the case was not suitable for mediation. On June 7, the judge ordered CCC not to sell, lease, lend or rent NCR software from ATMs without written consent, according to court records obtained by the Dayton Business Journal.

The software, developed by NCR and installed on the ATMs, is used to operate and service the machines, including running the security system. NCR filed an application May 25 seeking copyright protection for the software.

In a written statement, NCR said: "NCR's suit against CCC seeks to protect NCR-owned
intellectual property. Although specific products were not identified in the suit, we can verify that the critical intellectual property involved relates to our software application suite for the NCR 5305 ATM."

The key element covered by NCR's copyright registration is NCR NDC+, according to the statement.

NCR's lawsuit states the company is concerned about CCC having access to confidential information about NCR and its competitors. According to the newspaper's report of the lawsuit, the information was contained on a private NCR Web site accessible only with a secret password provided to its ATM resellers.