Re: Informix vs Oracle, alleged trade secret theft

For those who are not a member of one of the automated news services, I post a message I got off of my news service:

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  MENLO PARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 24, 1997--Informix Software, Inc., (NASDAQ:IFMX), the leading provider of innovative database technology, today announced that it has filed suit against Oracle Corp., its largest competitor, over the potential theft of trade secrets.

   The lawsuit was filed in Oregon's Circuit Court for Multnomah County in Portland, Oregon.

   The action stems from Oracle's recent questionable recruitment and hiring of eleven employees from the Informix product development laboratory in Portland, Ore. Among other claims, the complaint filed by Informix charges Oracle and a former Informix employee with misappropriation of trade secrets and unfair competition and seeks injunctive relief and punitive damages.

   "Our primary concern is that we protect Informix's intellectual property and trade secrets from Oracle," stated Phil White, Informix chairman and chief executive officer. "This is an extraordinary public admission from Oracle that it is behind in database technology and a blatant act unheard of in the software industry. They could not develop competitive products so they had to buy Informix employees. This is made even more obvious by the fact that Oracle did not have a development facility in Portland prior to these actions.

   "Let's keep this in perspective," White continued. "These are eleven employees out of 800 who are working at Informix in product development. Our main concern is that this is a tactic on Oracle's part to gain access to Informix trade secrets. We have spent years of development time and over $100 million to gain our technology lead. We will protect our development investment and technology lead to the fullest extent."

   Among the employees who resigned from Informix was Gary Kelley, who was one of several vice presidents in the Informix product development organization. Kelley is charged with breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, unfair competition and misappropriation of trade secrets.

   In court actions on January 23, Informix was granted a temporary injunction directed against Oracle and the former employees reaffirming that the employees are not to divulge trade secrets or solicit Informix employees for positions at Oracle. A hearing is scheduled for February 7 in which Oracle must prove why it should not be permanently restricted from violating trade secret laws.

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Received on Fri Jan 24 1997 - 00:00:00 CET