Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd. and vBulletin Solutions Inc have filed a second lawsuit against its former lead developer, who recently launched his own forum platform with the UK-based startup XenForo. With the new suit, vBulletin claims copyright infringement, breach of contract, and misappropriation of trade secrets.

Ex-vBulletin man Kier Darby in a statement on xenForo acknowledged the second suit, but denied the claims in both suits in their entirety, and "expects the claims to be defeated."

It has been reported in the Reg, that some customers have protested at vBulletin's support forums, and various other blogs after vBulletin announced an overhaul of its licensing setup. Vbulletin reacted by banning a number of license holders for what it calls a violation of its terms of service.

Under the company's previous scheme, users paid a one-time fee for an "owned license" to the vBulletin software. This meant they could use the product for as long as they liked, though they would have to pay a small yearly fee in order to receive upgrades, support, and security updates. But under the new scheme, even those with owned licenses would not have access to updates and support unless they paid full price for the new package.

Typically, users paid $160 for a vBulletin owned license, before renewing it each year for an extra $40 to $60. Now, if they want security, updates, and support after the end of their license year, they will have to upgrade to vBulletin 4.0, which is priced at close to $200 plus another $80 for support.

XenForo only costs $140 with an extra $40 for support.