[WinMac] RED HOT: Motorola slaps Intel with trade-secret lawsuit

Doug Clements(doug_clements[at]eee.org)
Mon, 15 Mar 1999 18:43:51 -0800

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Motorola slaps Intel with trade-secret lawsuit

By John G. Spooner
03/12/99 08:21:00 PM

Fresh from dodging the Federal Trade Commission's legal bullet, Intel Corp.
is now the target of another lawsuit, this one filed by Motorola Corp.
On Thursday, Motorola filed suit in Travis County District Court in Austin,
Texas, charging that Intel attempted to obtain Motorola's semiconductor
trade secrets by hiring its employees.

The incident, according to Motorola's suit, began when Intel hired Mark
McDermott, the former director of a Motorola PowerPC chip design center in
Austin. The suit alleges that McDermott conspired with Intel to hire 15
more Motorola employees to work at a new Intel chip design center, also in
Austin.
The suit seeks to keep Intel from placing those employees in positions
similar to the spots they held at Motorola, where they might reveal their
knowledge of Motorola trade secrets.

While Motorola requires that employees not disclose trade secrets after
they leave the company, it does not make them sign noncompete agreements.
Such agreements generally keep companies' former employees from working in
a similar job at a competitor for at least a year.

After receiving little or no response after contacting Intel about the
matter, Motorola was "forced to file a lawsuit," said Ken Philips, a
company spokesman.
The suit "is not designed to hurt Intel," Philips added. "It's designed to
protect our trade secrets."

Intel denies any wrongdoing.

"We've just received a copy of the complaint. After a preliminary analysis,
we deny that we have improperly recruited employees from Motorola," said
Intel spokesman Chuck Mulloy, in Santa Clara, Calif. "We plan to vigorously
defend ourselves."

"Motorola expects the court to schedule a hearing over the next 60 to 90
days to determine if a trial is necessary, Philips said.

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