Trade Secrets: Litigation News

Litigation continues, some with success and others without.

From Crain's comes Motorola sues RIM for poaching employees:

"(Crain’s) — Motorola Inc. has sued rival Research in Motion Ltd., maker of the BlackBerry, for poaching its employees.

In a suit filed Friday, Motorola says RIM has hired away 40 employees, in Libertyville and in Plantation, Fla., since February.

Motorola says RIM is violating a specific non-solicitation contract the companies signed in February, when Motorola said it was considering selling, or spinning off, its wireless-phone business."3.

From workforce.com comes Softscape Lawsuit Against SuccessFactors Dismissed:

"The legal dispute between HR software rivals SuccessFactors and Softscape has narrowed to one case.

A Massachusetts superior court last month dismissed Softscape’s suit alleging trade-secret theft by SuccessFactors.

In his ruling to dismiss the suit, Associate Justice Timothy Feeley said Softscape was making the same factual allegations in federal court in California, where SuccessFactors sued Softscape earlier this year."

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In a statement, Wayland, Massachusetts-based Softscape said it was “pleased” with the move to dismiss the suit it filed in June.

“Based on this ruling, it’s clear that the Court thought it would be more efficient if the claims raised in the Massachusetts case are tried in California, given that the other case was already pending there and Softscape has raised similar facts in defense of the claims there,” the company said in a statement. “The Court in no way ruled or commented on the actual merits or validity of Softscape’s allegations against SuccessFactors raised in the Massachusetts case.”