Motorola Inc, the largest US cellphone maker, sued a former executive now working for Apple Inc, accusing him of disclosing its trade secrets to aid in the marketing of Apple’s iPhone.
Michael Fenger in March ended an almost six-year career at Motorola, where he was a vice president of mobile-device business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He is now Apple’s vice president for global iPhone sales, according to a complaint filed yesterday in state court in Chicago.
“He was privy to the pricing, margins, customer initiatives, allocation of resources, product development, multiyear product, business and talent planning and strategies being used by Motorola,” the complaint said.
Apple introduced the newest version of its year-old iPhone wireless device on July 11, selling about 1 million of them in its debut weekend at a base price of US$199.
While Apple has expanded its mobile-phone business, Motorola has lost market share, slipping from second place to third in global handset sales since last year.
In March, the Schaumberg, Illinois-based company said it planned to split off its mobile-phone division, which has lost more than US$1.5 billion since the start of last year.
Fenger’s employment by Apple violates his written promise not to work for a competitor for at least two years after leaving Motorola, the company said in the complaint. Motorola seeks a court order barring Fenger from working for Apple for two years beginning last March 31.
Motorola also seeks to recoup more than US$1 million for Fenger’s alleged violation of company stock-option agreements.
Fenger couldn’t be reached for comment.
Susan Lundgren, spokeswoman for Cupertino, California-based Apple, declined to comment. Apple isn’t named as a defendant and no money is demanded from it in the suit.
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