Global leader in computational science and artificial intelligence (AI), Altair, announced that the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld a 2018 Texas lawsuit, filed by SAS Institute against World Programming (WPL) for alleged copyright infringement of SAS software, dismissing the case in favor of Altair.

Since 2009, Altair (WPL) has successfully rebutted all copyright complaints made by SAS Institute.

The establishment of Altair SLC, an alternative SAS language environment that runs programs written in the SAS language syntax without the requirement for third-party products, and the acquisition of World Programming by Altair in 2021 came after this legal landmark.

The SAS language compiler for Altair SLC can execute SAS language code as well as SQL code. It also uses other compilers to execute Python and R code as well as exchange SAS language datasets, Pandas, and R data frames. Its exceptional capacity to handle large levels of throughput lowers consumers' capital costs and operating costs.

“We are pleased with the decision of the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in favor of Altair,” said James R. Scapa, founder and chief executive officer, Altair.

“After more than 12 years of litigation in multiple international venues, it’s clear the SAS language is not proprietary and companies other than the SAS Institute are free to provide compilers and development environments supporting the SAS language as is the case with other languages including Python, C++, Java, and others in the public domain.”

 

To update their SAS language settings, improve outcomes, and keep costs under control, businesses are looking to embrace Python, cloud computing, and future technologies. Altair SLC is an example of Altair's commitment to open architectural technology.

For companies in any industry which want to adopt open-source languages and technology while also utilizing the decades of investment they've made in the SAS language, Altair SLC is accessible. It is a component of Altair RapidMiner, Altair's data analytics and artificial intelligence platform, and is accessible through Altair Units, which enables users to quickly access the full range of software solutions offered by Altair.