Apple Sues Two People For Posting Trade Secrets: A Closer Look At The Issues

December 11th, 2002 at 2:00 PM - News by Bryan Chaffin and Vern Seward

What if you worked at Apple and came into possession of some juicy information about upcoming Mac models: Would you leak the info? How about if you understood that Apple has likely sunk millions into creating those new models, and millions more in marketing, and that if you divulged the secrets Apple could lose vital timing that often is part of product announcements: Would you still spill the beans?

According to C|Net, two former Apple contract employees, one Jose Lopez and an unidentified woman presently known as Doe 1, were faced with those very questions and decided to blab. The pair now face the consequences as Appleis famed legal eagles level lawsuits against them. The C|Net article, titled Apple sues former contractor, has the details:

On Wednesday, the company filed a civil lawsuit against Jose Lopez, a former Apple contractor accused of leaking information about redesigned Power Mac computers released in August.

The lawsuit comes less than a month before the San Francisco Macworld Expo, where Apple is expected to unveil updated versions of many of its "i" applications. Rumors about upcoming products tend to increase as one of the two major Macworld trade shows approaches. The timing of the lawsuit may not be accidental, analysts say.

"They are clearly timing this to warn other potential leakers," said IDC analyst Roger Kay. "You make the object lesson at the right moment."

"Apple has filed a civil complaint against Jose Lopez, previously employed by Apple as a contractor, who we believe stole Appleis trade secrets by posting schematic drawings, images and engineering details of an unannounced Apple product on the Internet," the company said in a statement.

Check out the full article at C|Net News.