Raytheon's Trade Secret Theft Claims Tossed By Federal Judge in Texas

We first blogged about this case back in 2007: http://wombletradesecrets.blogspot.com/2007/03/raytheon-files-trade-secrets-suit.html.

Raytheon had alleged that in March of 1996, a high-level Raytheon executive quit and started a company called Indigo, allegedly to provide consulting advice to companies like Raytheon. Raytheon claims that instead of consulting with Raytheon to develop infrared cameras and detectors, Indigo planned to become a competitor of Raytheon and intended to use Raytheon's research and development in the process. The suit alleged "Indigo embarked on a calculated course of action to jump to market by undertaking a systematic effort to hire away key scientists and technicians from Raytheon in each of the critical research and design disciplines where Indigo lacked the knowledge necessary to compete." Flir Systems acquired Indigo Systems in 2004.

Forbes is reporting that the federal court in which the trade secret theft and unfair competition claims are pending has now dismissed all of those claims. In an e-mailed statement, Raytheon said, "This procedural ruling does not address the merits of the case. We will continue to actively pursue our claims against Indigo and FLIR in this litigation for their systematic misappropriation of trade secrets and patent infringement."

Obviously, FLIR had a different take on the court's ruling: "This significant court ruling moves us one step closer to putting these baseless and competitively motivated allegations behind us and gives our customers reassurance that FLIR's world class technology and products are not subject to the intellectual property claims of others," said Earl R. Lewis, President and CEO of FLIR Systems.