Actuate Beats MicroStrategy Suit

Actuate Corp. has defeated a MicroStrategy lawsuit that charged Actuate and two senior software engineers of misappropriating trade secrets. Circuit Court Judge M. Langhorne Keith issued the ruling in a "letter opinion" on Thursday after a five-week trial in Fairfax County, Virginia.

A MicroStrategy spokesman said that company "continues to believe in the merits of the case" and is reviewing the decision before deciding on its next course of action. The court has sealed the judge's opinion, and additional details were not immediately available.

MicroStrategy sued Actuate in June 2001 charging that the company and two Actuate senior software engineers, who previously worked at MicroStrategy, misappropriated MicroStrategy trade secrets that Actuate built into its Actuate 6 reporting software. MicroStrategy had sought millions of dollars in damages and an injunction prohibiting Actuate from selling its software.