TECHNOLOGY - Sept. 1, 1992

Accolade Wins Reversal in Legal Battle With Sega: In a case that could have broad implications for product development in the electronics industry, a federal appeals court has overturned a lower court ruling that barred video game software vendor Accolade Inc. from selling games that work with Sega’s Genesis game machine. Sega has alleged that Accolade violated its copyrights in the course of “reverse engineering” the Sega Genesis system, and a U.S. District Court issued an injunction barring Accolade’s Sega products from the market. Reverse engineering, or pulling apart a product to see how it operates, is a common practice in the electronics business, and many had feared severe disruptions if the practice were found to be illegal. But the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday threw out the lower-court injunction and said it would issue a written decision soon. on its reasoning in the near future.