Aerospace company accuses Mitsubishi of trade secret theft
Montreal-based aerospace and transportation company Bombardier has accused Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation and its US partner AeroTEC of stealing trade secrets.
Bombardier filed its complaint at the US District Court for the Western District of Washington on Friday, October 19.
AeroTEC, an aerospace manufacturing company and Mitsubishi’s US partner, has reportedly hired several of Bombardier’s former employees. The ex-employees were also named as defendants in the trade secrets lawsuit.
According to the complaint, Bombardier is one of the world’s leading manufacturers and designers of planes and trains.
The C-Series, a family of jet airliners designed to be more efficient and dependable than older competing aircrafts, is Bombardier’s latest design.
Bombardier claimed that the Japanese government, in conjunction with Mitsubishi, initiated its own investigation into the feasibility of an aircraft project which is similar to Bombardier’s C-Series project—the Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ).
The MRJ project allegedly began at the same time as Bombardier began “investigating” its C-Series project.
Following “significant delays” in launching the MRJ, Bombardier’s employees were allegedly targeted and recruited to work on the project. As part of this effort, a job fair was reportedly held in 2016, less than one kilometre from Bombardier’s headquarters.
After successfully recruiting former Bombardier employees, the personnel were then reportedly used to target more Bombardier employees.
Bombardier said that it wrote to its ex-employees and AeroTEC to emphasise the former employees’ ongoing obligation to maintain confidentiality.
In the claim, Bombardier accused a number of former employees of using their personal email addresses to store Bombardier’s C-Series trade secrets and subsequently share these secrets with others.
Bombardier is seeking a permanent injunction and damages.
A spokesperson for Bombardier told WIPR: "Bombardier faces significant harm from its competitor’s access to its trade secrets and confidential information. We have strong evidence to support that Bombardier trade secrets were misappropriated and are being used for the certification of the MRJ Regional Jet.
Bombardier does not take these actions regarding its trade secrets lightly and is taking all the necessary steps to protect its intellectual property."
Did you enjoy reading this story? Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories like this sent straight to your inbox.
Today's top stories
Global licence can be FRAND: English Court of Appeal
UPC constitutional case should be admissible, says complainant
