Are part numbers, by themselves, copyrightable? Not according to a US District Court in Minnesota, which found that the part numbers within the Windgate Software database were not entitled to copyright protection. Windgate Software v. Minnesota Computers, 2007 WL 951668 (D. Minn. 2007). Specifically, the court found that the part numbers were merely facts and, because they were not original or creative, they were not a work entitled to copyright protection.

Windgate Software produces and markets RISC Analysis, a database that contains part numbers applicable to IBM computers. In January 2006, it obtained a copyright registration that applies to the compilation of the data within the database and not to the underlying data itself. This means that the manner in which the RISC Analysis database was organized was original, or creative, and therefore subject to copyright protection.

Minnesota Computers buys and resells refurbished IBM parts and provides information to customers about IBM parts and part numbers. A Minnesota Computers employee registered for a demo account on the RISC Analysis Web site and downloaded data containing IBM part numbers directly into Minnesota Computers’ database. Windgate Software claimed that Minnesota Computers copied 6,685 identical records from the RISC Analysis database.

Windgate Software brought suit against Minnesota Computers and sought a preliminary injunction to keep Minnesota Computers from publishing or using the data it copied from the RISC Analysis database. The court denied this request and held that the copied material – IBM part numbers – was not “original” to Windgate Software and therefore was not capable of receiving copyright protection.

In coming to this conclusion, the court relied on the Feist decision and maintained that originality will be found in a work that is “independently created” and that “possesses at least some minimal degree of creativity.” Feist Publ’ns, Inc. v. Rural Tel. Serv. Co., Inc., 499 US 340, 345 (1991). A compilation of facts or data, therefore, may be entitled to copyright protection, albeit a “thin” layer of protection, if it is arranged in an original or creative manner. These works obtain only a thin layer of protection because the protection extends to the manner in which the facts and data are arranged but not necessarily to the facts or data within the database. Thus, the RISC Analysis database itself was protectable because it organized the part numbers in an original and somewhat creative manner. Given this, because Minnesota Computers copied only the IBM part numbers and not the arrangement of such, its use of the part numbers did not constitute copyright infringement.

It is important to note that this case does not address whether IBM can bring suit against Minnesota Computers claiming trademark infringement. In certain instances, a party may claim trademark ownership in the part numbers. To obtain trademark protection in part numbers, one must establish that the part number is original to the company and functions as a source identifier for the particular part. While it is unclear whether IBM can make such a claim in this instance, it is important to note that a party may claim trademark rights in its part numbers.

Thus, while a party may not claim copyright protection in the actual part numbers, it may claim such protection in the actual database, so long as the data is arranged in an original and somewhat creative manner. Further, in some instances, the party may also claim trademark protection in the part numbers by themselves. To ensure your data is protected, however, you should employ security mechanisms to protect from third parties extracting the data. In addition, you should also include a Terms of Use on your Web site that requires users to agree that they will not commercially exploit the data.

For more information, please contact:

Anthony V. Lupo
202.857.6353
Lupo.anthony@arentfox.com

Sarah Bruno
202.775.5760
Bruno.sarah@arentfox.com