A software company suspects that someone — perhaps a former employee, a contractor, or someone else who may have had access to the company’s source code — is now using some or all of the code without permission in another venture. Even if a company feels strongly that there is something to its suspicions, the barriers to vindicating such rights through litigation can be prohibitively high.
On the other side of this issue, many companies receive cease-and-desist letters, alleging or suggesting that their software is using another company’s trade secrets or infringing copyrights. Even if untrue, such allegations can harm business, hamper fundraising, and can lead to expensive and time-consuming litigation. For both sides, litigation can take years to resolve and outcomes can be difficult to predict.
