The complaint centres on contracts from December 2008 that Turbon says it entered to produce replacement cartridges for HP. It says the contract was cancelled in January 2010, and HP is now using the information it gained against the company, after Turbon “methodically disclosed every intricate detail of its business.”
“Hewlett-Packard has sought to effectively crush Turbon,” the complaint said. “Turbon’s business is in peril and any further actions by Hewlett-Packard to use or disclose Turbon’s confidential trade secret information would be fatal for Turbon and the remanufacturing industry as a whole.”
The lawsuit seeks a currently unknown amount of damages for fraudulent inducement, misappropriation of trade secrets and unfair competition, a ban on the use of improperly obtained secrets, and other remedies.
Turbon International, based in New Jersey, US, is part of German manufacturer Turbon AG.
The case is Turbon International Inc v. Hewlett-Packard Co, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 10-04540.
HP and Turbon have been contacted by the Recycler but are currently unwilling to comment on pending litigation.
The Reuters article can be read here.