Fitbit did not steal Jawbone’s trade secrets, according to a ruling issued on Tuesday by the US International Trade Commission (ITC).
Jawbone filed a complaint with the trade agency in July 2015, accusing Fitbit of infringing six patents and poaching employees who took with them confidential data about Jawbone’s business, such as plans, supply chains and technical details.
Judge Dee Lord, who issued the ruling, concluded that no violation of the Tariff Act occurred because “no party has been shown to have misappropriated any trade secret,” according to Reuters. Had a violation of the act been identified, Fitbit could have been prohibited from importing its products and components into the U.S.
This ruling followed earlier decisions that eliminated from this investigation all six of the Jawbone patents asserted against Fitbit.
“We are pleased with the ITC’s initial determination rejecting Jawbone’s trade secret claims,” said James Park, CEO and co-founder of Fitbit. “We greatly appreciate the ALJ’s time and diligent work on this case. From the outset of this litigation, we have maintained that Jawbone’s allegations were utterly without merit and nothing more than a desperate attempt by Jawbone to disrupt Fitbit’s momentum to compensate for their own lack of success in the market. Our customers can be assured that we remain fully committed to creating innovative products that consumers love, and that we are excited about the pipeline of new products coming out this year.”
Photo courtesy of Fitbit.
