VMware Accuses Siemens of Using Unlicensed Software

VMware has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. unit of German conglomerate Siemens AG for allegedly using unlicensed software, The Register reported. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware.

The case concerns Siemens’ request for extended support for VMware products. On September 9, 2024, the German corporation provided the virtualization software vendor with a list of the software it was using, requesting “maintenance and support services for the listed products” from VMware. However, VMware discovered that the document listed a number of product deployments that “far exceeded the number of licenses actually purchased by Siemens.” In other words, according to the plaintiffs, the defendants are using the software without proper payments.

Image source: unsplash.com / Tingey Injury Law Firm

VMware claims that it notified Siemens after discovering the discrepancies. However, the German conglomerate claimed that the list was accurate, demanded that VMware approve it, and even threatened to sue the software vendor if it did not provide support for the products. Siemens claims that it had an option to extend support for one year, while VMware failed to meet its obligations by refusing to provide the services.

In turn, VMware notes that, hoping for a solution to the problem, it agreed to offer support for 30 days because it did not want to disrupt the work of Siemens infrastructure. And in October, VMware said that Siemens tried to withdraw the list and offer instead a corrected version in which the number of software deployments corresponds to the volume of purchased licenses. At the same time, Siemens does not allow software audits to be conducted at its facilities. As a result, having no way to verify the accuracy of the information provided by Siemens, VMware decided to go to court.