Actian sues Resort Data Processing, alleging hotel booking deployments ran its Zen database on the wrong license edition

What was filed

The complaint is Document 1 in No. 5:26-cv-11964, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division, filed October 15, 2026 (28 pages). The plaintiff is Actian Corporation, a Delaware corporation based in Santa Clara, California. The defendant is Resort Data Processing, Inc. (RDP), a software company based in Edwards, Colorado, with a place of business in Solvang, California, which the complaint says is a subsidiary of Fullsteam Operations LLC. Counsel for Actian are Hatch Law, PC and Alan Sege, Esq. PC, both of Los Angeles, California. Actian demands a jury trial. (Compl. paras. 5, 10 to 11; pp. 1, 3 to 5, 27.)

The software and the licenses

The software is Actian's database management system Pervasive PSQL, also known as Actian Zen. The complaint alleges RDP's RDPWin property-management application for resorts, hotels, and vacation-rental operators uses Zen as its database engine, and that RDP's IRMng online booking engine and Owner Portal run on a web server that connects to the Zen-managed data server. It describes two tiers of license: Standard Editions (Standard Server, Enterprise Server, and Workgroup), limited to internal business use and user counts, and the more expensive capacity-based Vx Server, later Cloud Server, edition. It alleges Section 2.2 of the license agreements requires the Cloud Server edition where connections are pooled or rerouted, and Section 4.2 of the later license agreements, and materially similar provisions in earlier versions, bar Standard Edition use for third-party access, hosting, SaaS, or service bureau work absent Actian's express written consent or Cloud Server rights. It lists 15 copyright registrations for the software. (Compl. paras. 1 to 2, 21 to 25, 29, 31 to 34; pp. 2, 6 to 9.)

What the complaint alleges

The complaint alleges RDP bought Vx and Cloud Server licenses for its own hosted environment from 2016 on, while buying customer-specific Standard Edition licenses and consulting customers on which edition to buy based on "user counts vs cloud license." It alleges that in a 2026 deployment assessment RDP described RDPWin and ngSuite as used for "Distribution to Third Parties" with a web application accessed by "Web Browser." It alleges Actian gave formal audit notice on June 10, 2026, and that Actian's internal audit analysis identified 265 customers not hosted by RDP and concluded 223 of them needed Cloud Server licensing, including 69 active users of RDP's own booking engine. It also alleges RDP kept using copies licensed on Not For Resale terms, limited to internal development and demonstration use, after Fullsteam acquired RDP in 2022, and that the audit identified 153 such license keys tied to RDP orders. The complaint states that Actian does not allege RDP's hosted platform is noncompliant merely because it is hosted, since RDP bought Cloud Server rights for it, and does not allege RDP installed every customer copy. It alleges RDP disputed the audit findings and declined to remediate. (Compl. paras. 3 to 8, 36 to 61, 69 to 75; pp. 2 to 4, 9 to 16.)

Counts and relief

The five claims are breach of the license agreements; direct copyright infringement under 17 U.S.C. 106, alleging that each load of the software into memory outside the license scope is a reproduction; contributory copyright infringement; vicarious copyright infringement; and, in the alternative, rescission and restitution under California Civil Code 1689, 1691, and 1692. The complaint alleges the infringement was willful. The prayer asks for contract damages, actual damages and profits under 17 U.S.C. 504(b) or statutory damages under 17 U.S.C. 504(c), fees and costs under 17 U.S.C. 505, preliminary and permanent injunctions, return or destruction of unauthorized copies under 17 U.S.C. 502 and 503, rescission and restitution, and a constructive trust under California Civil Code 2223 and 2224 with an accounting. It states no dollar amount. (Compl. paras. 84 to 140 and prayer; pp. 17 to 27.)

The U.S. Copyright Office public catalog lists Registration Nos. TX0009363805 (Actian Zen v13, registered February 22, 2024), TX0009365932 (Actian Zen v14, registered February 29, 2024), and TXu002269422 (Zen v15, registered July 14, 2021), each with Actian Corporation as author and claimant.