TGT Soft sues Stardock

Well it looks like the folks at TGT Soft are in the holiday spirit (not!). On Wednesday Stardock received a lawsuit from TGT Soft that was filed in Louisiana.

The lawsuit essentially asks for a declaration that TGT Soft can use Stardock's IconPackager theme format without liability.

This incident began last month with the first beta of Style XP 2.0 which had a button labeled "Add an Icon Pack" which when pressed opened a dialog in which they could load a .iptheme or .ip file (IconPackager files). We were fairly annoyed that 1) They would try to compete with IconPackager/Object Desktop by using IconPackager files (remember, they sell this thing), 2) That they didn't even give us credit for our icon packaging format but instead referred to them as "icon packs" as if .ipthemes were some generic term created by the ASCII group or something and 3) They didn't even create icon packages but rather planned to just exploit the popularity of IconPackager which we've worked hard and long on for many years to make popular.

We informed them that this was unacceptable and we would defend our rights either technically or legally if necessary. If they want to compete with Object Desktop or IconPackager they would need to come up with their own format that they have to support and promote. If they want to put out an icon changing program, that's fine. But to copy our format and use it so that they can undercut the price of our software is unacceptable and we believe, illegal.

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