Wearable rivals Jawbone and Fitbit are set to battle it out in court after the former accused its competitor of stealing its most sensitive IP in a “carefully orchestrated plan.”
The complaint, filed in San Francisco’s Superior Court, alleges that Fitbit attempted to headhunt 30% of Jawbone’s employees, with five ultimately deciding to make the switch, taking with them “reams of proprietary and confidential information regarding the intricacies of Jawbone’s business and the future direction of the market.”
If true, the allegations once again highlight the insider threat posed by employees.
The complaint alleges that several soon-to-depart members of staff downloaded proprietary company information onto USBs or forwarded information to personal email addresses for further use.
It continued:
“The stolen files are the informational equivalent of a goldmine for Fitbit, as they provide an intricate roadmap into the core of Jawbone’s business, including such information as Jawbone’s supply chain, gross margins, product lineup (both current and future) product target costs, vendor contacts, product analysis, market trends and predictions, and the future direction of Fitbit’s main competitor.”
One particular employee, Ana Rosario, is accused of deliberately seeking a meeting with Jawbone to discuss the future direction of the company, despite having already decided to join Fitbit as a user experience researcher.
She then downloaded a “highly confidential presentation” detailing future technologies and products, it is alleged.
“This presentation was essentially the ‘Playbook for the Future’ for Jawbone’s business,” the complaint continued.
Jawbone wants both financial compensation and punitive damages against Fitbit and the five ex-employees named in the suit. It also wants the court to stop its arch rival benefitting from any of the secrets it says were stolen.
Mohan Koo, founder of security firm Dtex Systems, claimed that organizations are finding it increasingly difficult to protect sensitive IP as staff move companies.
“A privileged user who is planning to leave with sensitive company IP – something Jawbone seems to have faced on a regular basis – will leave a proverbial trail of breadcrumbs well before the theft actually occurs,” he added.
“The challenge for Jawbone will be in providing the necessary level of forensic evidence to prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that IP theft has taken place, and that Fitbit was involved.”