Software giants Microsoft have launched a new round of assault on the company selling pirated software in the US market.

They have filed 26 lawsuits accusing U.S. companies of selling pirated software. These lawsuits have been filed in Georgia, Illinois, Ohio, Colorado, South Carolina, New York and New Jersey.

Microsoft had also recently launched a distribution of a program, called Windows Genuine Advantage that checks whether users are running legitimate copies of Windows. They also gained when the Chinese government announced some big steps to curb piracy in the country.

Mary Jo Schrade, a Microsoft senior attorney spoke about these new lawsuits: “We’re worried about it because it does seriously affect our business, in the sense of people not paying for the research and development but reaping the benefits.”