US court fines Indian textile firm $100,000
Pratibha Syntex was sued on the basis that it did not pay licensing fees for software manufactured by Adobe, Microsoft, and others, gaining cost advantage in the low-margin business of apparel manufacturingA US court has asked an Indian textile company to pay $100,000 as fine for using pirated software in the production of clothing items to be sold in California. As part of the settlement, which was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court and has been approved by a judge, Indore-based textile company Pratibha Syntex has been asked to pay $100,000 in restitution within 30 days. “A settlement resolving allegations that Pratibha Syntex Ltd., a company based in India, gained an unfair competitive advantage over America-based companies by using pirated software in the production of clothing imported and sold in California,” said Office of the Attorney General, State of California Department of Justice, in a statement. The complaint alleged that Pratibha Syntex was engaged in illegal business practices that placed California garment companies at a disadvantage, while hurting American software companies’ ability to develop new and innovative products. “Businesses around the globe should be on notice that the state of California will hold them accountable for stealing intellectual property to unfairly undercut their competition,” California Attorney General Kamala Harris said. The court said that the use of pirated software enabled the Indian firm to save cost for a critical input in the apparel manufacturing industry, thereby giving a competitive advantage over its competitors who have to pay licencing fee for the software and information technology they use in their business. Pratibha Syntex was sued on the basis that it did not pay licensing fees for software manufactured by Adobe, Microsoft, and others, gaining cost advantage in the low-margin business of apparel manufacturing, shipment and sales.
December 29, 2015 | 6:18pm IST.
to success.