A newly-filed United States lawsuit has thrown into sharp relief the ongoing damage caused by the tech wreck and economic downturn on the ability of information technology companies to win back the confidence of the investment community.

On Tuesday, Compuware filed suit against high-profile ratings agency Moodys Investor Services, claiming downgrading of the company's rating in August 2002 to 'junk' status constituted defamation. On the day the downgrading occurred Compuware's share price fell 16.3 percent to US$2.56, sharply in excess of the 2.9 per cent fall that day on the board on which the company was listed, Nasdaq.

The suit also alleges breach of contract, fraud and securities law violations.

Compuware has seen revenues plummet recently. Late Wednesday, it posted fiscal third quarter revenues of US$333.1 million, a 27 percent fall on the third quarter of the previous fiscal third quarter of US$453.8 million. This saw net income fall 15 percent over the same period from US$29.8 million to US$25.4 million.

As well as declining revenue and profits, Moody's mentioned Compuware's ongoing court case with IBM over copyright infringement and anti-competitive practices. Antitrust cases, such as the case recently ended against Microsoft, abound in the industry.

Even more ubiquitous in recent times are cases based on patents, as large technology companies trawl through thousands of patents in an attempt to find one they can charge licensing fees on, and hence improve flagging profits. The situation has been muddied further by overworked patent offices granting patents for claims that are too broad or vague, the most notorious of which has been BT's claim to own hyperlinks.

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