Autodesk, Inc. v. Dassault Systemès Solidworks Corp.

MEMORANDUM OPINION ON THE USE OF “DWG” AS A FILE EXTENSION AND AUTODESK’S DISAVOWAL THEREOF

Software programs almost invariably store data in files. Sometimes a program will use many thousands of files to store various types of information. To ensure that individual data files can be located on a computer or electronic device, each is given a unique name. A file name, at least in the most widely used operating systems, is usually in the form of a prefix and suffix separated by a period (e.g., “smart-law.abc”), where the prefix usually describes or denotes the contents of the file, and the suffix — also called a file extension or just an extension — denotes the type of data being stored. The function of the extension is, when combined with a prefix, to be part of the unique file name, so that when a computer program calls up the file, it will be uniquely identifiable and beatable. These extensions are handy to group like types of files (e.g., “.jpg” for photos, “.txt” for simple text, “.dat” for numerical data). However, the naming of file extensions is a function employed by the programmer to suit the needs of the software. While industry conventions may exist for the sake of…