Sunday, February 01, 2009, 2/01/2009 03:53:00 PM

Trade Secrets and the Mole at Microsoft

From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, an almost bizarre story concerning the CEO of a software company, Ancora Technologies, who went to work for Microsoft claiming that Ancora was no longer in business. Not only was that apparently not true, but his reason for joining Microsoft was to obtain evidence for a patent suit brought by Ancora against three Microsoft customers, Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Toshiba America Information Systems. Microsoft claims he downloaded secret information unrelated to his work for Microsoft.

The individual at issue, Miki Mullor, was terminated from Microsoft in September 2008 and, now, Microsoft has sued him for theft of trade secrets in state court in Seattle.

Microsoft is now a defendant in Ancora’s patent suit which concerns an anti-piracy system related to Windows. Microsoft wants to keep Mullor out of the patent case.

Full disclosure: our firm represents Microsoft and Dell.
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