USR/Livingston OS deal is at writ's end

US Robotics is locked in a court battle with remote access manufacturer Livingston Enterprises, bringing an acrimonious end to the pair's technology agreement on the remote access operating system ComOS.

Livingston filed a suit against USR last week, following a claim filed against it by the modem company in October.

The row is over a licensing agreement signed in September 1994, which provided royalty payments to Livingston while USR was using the Portmaster ComOS software.

This came to an end at the beginning of last month. USR wanted ComOS for its Netserver hub and incorporated it into its Total Control Enterprise network hub.

Livingston claimed that USR had been due to return the source code for the software in the first week in October. But on 18 October, USR filed a suit against Livingston, claiming that it was in breach of contract and accusing the company of unfair trade practices.

Livingston last week made a counter claim, seeking recovery of damages and an injunction preventing USR's 'improper' use of Livingston's trade secrets.

A representative for Livingston Enterprises said: 'The original US Robotics suit was completely without merit and Livingston intends to contest it vigorously.'