On 5 October 2026, the Delhi High Court barred the cleantech company Chakr Innovation from using pirated or unlicensed SOLIDWORKS software, in a copyright suit brought by Dassault Systèmes. Dassault's evidence came from SOLIDWORKS itself: 160 "infringement hits" from 12 computers, logged by the software's "Phone Home" licence check. The order is interim, and the allegations have not been tested at trial.
Software piracy cases rarely make headlines in engineering media, but this one deserves a careful read by every CAD manager. It shows what information SOLIDWORKS sends back to Dassault, how long that information can sit in a vendor's records before it reaches a court, and how quickly a licence question can freeze a company's own computers.
It also shows something many engineering teams forget: the records that decide a dispute are usually created long before anyone expects a dispute. Here is what the court ordered, what the case says about licence compliance, and what to check in your own company this month.
TL;DR: the SOLIDWORKS piracy injunction in one paragraph
Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp and its Indian subsidiary say Chakr Innovation held 26 SOLIDWORKS licences, all marked "Active Without Support", but used unlicensed copies on top of them. Dassault's "Phone Home" technology logged 160 hits from 12 computers between 30 November 2023 and July 2026, including licence keys, MAC and IP addresses and the network's email domain. Justice Vikas Mahajan granted an ex parte interim injunction: no use of unlicensed SOLIDWORKS, and no formatting or deleting data on the 12 identified machines. Chakr denied the allegations in 2024, and the case returns to court in January 2027. The lesson for SOLIDWORKS teams: know exactly which seats and versions you are licensed for, assume the software reports usage, and keep your own dated records, for your licences and for your designs.
What did the Delhi High Court order against Chakr Innovation?
The case is Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp & Anr. v. Chakr Innovation Private Limited, CS(COMM) 1080/2026. The plaintiffs are the US company that manages the SOLIDWORKS intellectual property and its Indian sister company. Chakr Innovation is a Delhi-based company, founded in 2016, that makes emission-reduction products such as Chakr Shield and Chakr DeNox. According to the LiveLaw Biz report on the order, the court said Dassault prima facie owns the copyright in the SOLIDWORKS programmes.
Until the next hearing, Chakr, its directors, officers and agents are restrained from:
- using, accessing or installing pirated or unlicensed versions of SOLIDWORKS;
- reproducing or distributing the software in breach of the licence agreement;
- formatting the 12 identified computers, listed by MAC address, or erasing any data, log files or installations related to the software on them.
The order was passed ex parte, meaning Chakr was not heard before it was made, as the SpicyIP weekly review notes. The matter goes before the Joint Registrar on 30 November 2026 and back to the court on 21 January 2027. Chakr's counsel denied the allegations in December 2024, and we found no public response to the order. Nothing has been decided on the merits.
How did Dassault find the unlicensed SOLIDWORKS copies?
Dassault says market sources alerted it in November 2024, and that internal checks then confirmed the unauthorised use. The key evidence came from what the plaintiffs call SOLIDWORKS "Phone Home" technology, a licence compliance check built into the software.
According to the court report, Phone Home sends data to Dassault's servers that includes the software title, the licence key, the computer's MAC and IP addresses and the email domain of the network. In this case, it allegedly recorded 160 infringement hits from 12 computers between 30 November 2023 and July 2026, and some records carried the domain chakr.in. Justice Mahajan said the hits "prima facie demonstrate that unauthorized/pirated versions of 'SolidWorks' have been used on at least twelve computer systems" traced to Chakr.
Two practical points follow. First, the data trail started almost a year before Dassault sent its first letter, so usage records can build up quietly for a long time. Second, a MAC address points to a specific machine. If someone installs an unlicensed copy on a company laptop, the company, not just that person, is the one named in the suit.
What does "Active Without Support" mean for your licences?
Chakr allegedly held 26 SOLIDWORKS licences, all marked "Active Without Support". In SOLIDWORKS terms, that usually describes perpetual licences whose subscription service has lapsed: the software still runs, but you no longer receive new versions or support. According to the plaintiffs, those licences covered only the basic versions Chakr had bought, and the alleged unlicensed copies went beyond them.
This is where many honest companies get into trouble without intending to. A team buys SOLIDWORKS Standard, someone needs Simulation or a newer release for a customer project, and a copy appears on a workstation "just for this job". A licence owned is not a licence for every product, version and machine. Our guide to SolidWorks licence management and security explains how to keep seats, activations and network licences under control.
Is this the first SOLIDWORKS piracy case in Delhi?
No. On 8 April 2026, in Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corporation v. Zoneonne Venture Private Limited & Anr., CS(COMM) 334/2021, Justice Tushar Rao Gedela of the same court granted a permanent injunction. Phone Home had recorded 474 instances of unauthorised use across seven computers, again identified by MAC and IP addresses. The defendants did not file a defence, so the court treated the allegations as admitted.
Damages were based on the current market value of genuine licences for the number of unauthorised installations: Rs 64,79,941 in damages and costs, plus Rs 3,21,013 in legal expenses, according to LiveLaw Biz. The defendants also had to hand over all infringing copies. In other words, the bill was roughly what the licences would have cost, plus legal costs, plus years of distraction.
For the wider legal picture, read our overviews of the legal framework for CAD file protection and copyright, patents and trademarks for 3D models.
Licence records protect the software. What protects your designs?
BORIS for SOLIDWORKS registers your CAD files with a blockchain timestamp, so you hold a dated certificate of ownership for every version that matters.
👉 Try BORIS for SOLIDWORKS
Why should a CAD manager care about the evidence-preservation order?
The least discussed part of the order is the ban on formatting the 12 computers or deleting data, log files and installations. Courts issue such orders so that evidence survives. For the company concerned, it means those machines and their contents are frozen in their current state until the court says otherwise.
Think about what sits on a typical engineering workstation: native part and assembly files, drawings for customers, supplier data, local PDM caches. A licence dispute can suddenly put the state of those machines, and the history on them, at the centre of a court case. If your design records live only on a few workstations, a dispute, a ransomware attack or a hardware failure can leave you unable to show what you designed and when. Our article on ransomware groups stealing CAD drawings shows the same weakness from the security side.
The case is also a reminder of how evidence works in IP disputes. Dassault did not win the interim order with opinions. It won it with dated, machine-specific records it had collected over almost three years. If you ever have to prove that a design is yours, you will need the same kind of record. See evidence requirements in CAD IP litigation and blockchain records as legal evidence.
What should SOLIDWORKS teams do now?
- Count every installation. List every machine with SOLIDWORKS, eDrawings, Simulation or other add-ins installed, including laptops, test machines and home-office PCs, and compare the list with your licence records.
- Match products and versions. Check that each seat runs only the product level and release you are licensed for. If your licences are "Active Without Support", do not install newer releases on them.
- Control installs. Remove local admin rights where you can, so that nobody installs software "just for one project". Make one person responsible for CAD licences.
- Keep licence proof in one place. Store purchase records, serial numbers, subscription status and reseller correspondence together. If a letter arrives, you want answers in hours, not weeks.
- Answer letters properly. If you receive a compliance letter, involve a lawyer early. In the Chakr case, letters, a cease-and-desist and months of mediation came before the suit.
- Assume the software reports. Include licence check data in your privacy and IT documentation, and tell your team that SOLIDWORKS sends licence compliance data, including machine identifiers, to Dassault.
- Do not keep design history on single machines. Use PDM and backups, so that a frozen, failed or encrypted workstation does not take your design records with it. Our guide to CAD file audit trails shows what to keep.
- Register the versions that matter. Before you share or ship a design, create a dated, verifiable record of it, so you can prove ownership whatever happens to a machine or a partner.
If you are buying a company or its CAD assets, add licence compliance to the checklist. Unlicensed seats are a liability that moves with the business, as our guide to due diligence for CAD asset acquisitions explains.
How does BORIS for SOLIDWORKS help you keep proof of your own work?
Dassault protects its software with records that show which machine used which licence, and when. Your designs deserve the same discipline. BORIS for SOLIDWORKS, the add-in by CADChain, works inside SOLIDWORKS and registers your CAD files with a blockchain timestamp, giving you a certificate of ownership for each registered version. The record does not depend on one workstation, one vendor or one partner, and it works next to PDM, not instead of it.
To get started, see the BORIS plugin installation guide for SolidWorks, and for the legal background read how to prove authorship of CAD designs and what CAD ownership documentation should include.
How does this case fit the bigger picture for engineering IP?
This month's IP news has a common thread: the side with dated, specific records is the side that moves the court.
- Hardware secrets in Silicon Valley. On our sister site, CADChain explains the Apple v. OpenAI trade secrets fight, where the judge said he was highly likely to grant Apple a preliminary injunction and OpenAI agreed to collect forensic images from 14 employees' devices.
- 3D model files in a Chinese court. BORIS for Inventor covers a Suzhou ruling on trade secrets in 3D model files, where dated drawings with ownership marks and emails proving receipt of complete 3D models decided the case.
- Signatures are not proof. Blended BORIS looks at ChatGPT adding real cartoonists' signatures to AI images, and why a visible mark is not proof of authorship.
Earlier this week we also covered what SOLIDWORKS 2027 means for your design data, including the end of SOLIDWORKS 2025 hotfixes on 31 December 2026, another good reason to review which versions your seats are licensed for.
Conclusion
The Chakr Innovation order is interim, and Chakr may yet defend itself successfully. But the mechanics are already clear: SOLIDWORKS reports licence data, Dassault keeps it, and Indian courts have accepted it as strong prima facie evidence, followed by an order to freeze the machines involved.
For SOLIDWORKS teams the fix is simple and cheap compared with a lawsuit: count your seats, match them to what you bought, control installs and keep your licence papers in order. Then apply the same thinking to your own IP. Keep dated, independent records of the designs you create, so that if you ever need to prove what is yours, the evidence is already there.
Keep evidence of your designs before you need it.
BORIS for SOLIDWORKS adds blockchain timestamps and certificates of ownership to your CAD files, right inside SOLIDWORKS.
👉 Get BORIS for SOLIDWORKS
FAQ: the SOLIDWORKS piracy injunction
What did the Delhi High Court decide in Dassault v. Chakr Innovation?
On 5 October 2026, Justice Vikas Mahajan granted an ex parte interim injunction restraining Chakr Innovation from using, installing or distributing pirated or unlicensed SOLIDWORKS software and from formatting or deleting data on 12 identified computers. It is not a final judgment.
What is SOLIDWORKS Phone Home?
It is the name used in court for a licence compliance check built into SOLIDWORKS. According to the court report, it sends the software title, licence key, MAC and IP addresses and the network's email domain to Dassault's servers.
How many infringement hits did Dassault report?
160 hits from 12 computers linked to Chakr Innovation between 30 November 2023 and July 2026, according to the plaintiffs.
What does "Active Without Support" mean?
It usually describes perpetual SOLIDWORKS licences whose subscription service has lapsed. The software runs, but you do not get new versions or support. Dassault says Chakr's 26 such licences covered only the basic versions it had bought.
Has Chakr Innovation responded?
Its counsel denied the allegations in December 2024. We found no public response to the October 2026 order. The case returns to the Joint Registrar on 30 November 2026 and to the court on 21 January 2027.
What did the earlier Zoneonne Venture case cost the defendants?
In April 2026, the court granted a permanent injunction and ordered Rs 64,79,941 in damages and costs plus Rs 3,21,013 in legal expenses, based on the market value of genuine licences for the unauthorised installations.
How can my company avoid a SOLIDWORKS licence dispute?
Count every installation, match products and versions to your licences, control who can install software, keep licence records together and respond to any compliance letter with legal advice.
How do I keep proof of ownership of my SOLIDWORKS designs?
Keep PDM history and backups away from single workstations, and add an independent record. BORIS for SOLIDWORKS registers CAD files with a blockchain timestamp and gives you a certificate of ownership.