Autodesk Inc & Anor v Dyason

The High Court of Australia considered an appeal by Autodesk Inc. and Autodesk concerning a dispute with Martin Patrick Dyason, Christine Dyason, and Peter Vincent Kelly. The proceedings involved an application to vacate a previous judgment and orders of the High Court, which had allowed the appeal. Following the dismissal of the application to vacate, the parties submitted minutes of order for the Court's consideration.

The central legal issue before the High Court was to determine the precise terms of the orders to be made following its earlier decision allowing the appeal. This involved specifying the nature of the injunctions to be granted against the respondents, particularly concerning the reproduction and sale of a computer program and a specific component thereof known as the "127-bit series look-up table" within "Widget C II".

The High Court's reasoning, as indicated by the orders made, was to give effect to its prior judgment of 12 February 1992. The Court varied an earlier order of Northrop J. by imposing restraints on the respondents, prohibiting them from reproducing substantial parts of the computer program and from selling or offering for sale any reproduction of the whole or a substantial part of it. Furthermore, the respondents were restrained from reproducing the "127-bit series look-up table" and specifically that part of the program known as "Widget C II". The appeal to the Full Court of the Federal Court was otherwise dismissed with costs, and the matter was remitted to the Federal Court for further directions.