Defywire, Inc. Sues webMethods, Inc. for Violation of the Virginia Uniform Trade Secrets Act, Fraud, and Breach of Contract.HERNDON, Va. -- Defywire Inc., the wireless middleware and mobile application provider, today filed a suit charging breach of contract, fraud, and violation of the Virginia Uniform Trade Secrets Act against business integration software company webMethods, Inc. (Nasdaq:WEBM WEBM webMethods Inc. (stock abbreviation, AMEX) ), of Fairfax, Virginia Fairfax is an independent city forming an enclave within the confines of Fairfax County, in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Although politically independent of the surrounding county, the City of Fairfax is nevertheless its county seatGR6. . The lawsuit, which seeks more than $5 million in compensatory and punitive damages Monetary compensation awarded to an injured party that goes beyond that which is necessary to compensate the individual for losses and that is intended to punish the wrongdoer. and an injunction enjoining en·join tr.v. en·joined, en·join·ing, en·joins 1. To direct or impose with authority and emphasis. 2. To prohibit or forbid. See Synonyms at forbid. webMethods from disclosing or using Defywire's confidential and proprietary information, was filed in the Circuit Court of Fairfax County, Virginia Fairfax County is a county in Northern Virginia, in the United States. As of 2005, the estimated population of the county is 1,041,200;[1] making it by far the most populous jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and larger than seven states. . The lawsuit alleges that webMethods falsely obtained and used Defywire's confidential and proprietary information to develop a product to compete with Defywire's wireless technology, a violation of the Virginia Uniform Trade Secrets Act. The suit further alleges that webMethods violated the companies' distribution and reseller agreements by terminating them prior to their expiration, without cause or justification. Beginning in 2002, Defywire and webMethods entered into agreements to allow their products to be jointly utilized by customers as a single system for accessing their information management systems wirelessly through hand-held devices. Subsequent amendments extended the length of the agreements, and allowed the Defywire Mobility Suite to be rebranded as "webMethods Mobile." In March 2005, mid-contract, webMethods announced to customers and external partners the unilateral termination of its agreements with Defywire, and simultaneously announced the launch of a new wireless application solution as early as July 2005. In the months immediately preceding the early termination announcement, the suit alleges that webMethods sought increased access to Defywire's proprietary technologies and expertise in order to more fully integrate the two companies' product offerings. The suit alleges that webMethods falsely represented the purpose of this integration development activity in order to develop a product to compete with Defywire's Mobility Suite. "Defywire provided increased access to webMethods in good faith and under contractual assurances, in an effort to strengthen our mutual product offering," said Jill Stelfox, CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Defywire. "Had Defywire been aware of webMethods' intent to misappropriate mis·ap·pro·pri·ate tr.v. mis·ap·pro·pri·at·ed, mis·ap·pro·pri·at·ing, mis·ap·pro·pri·ates 1. a. To appropriate wrongly: misappropriating the theories of social science. this information for use in webMethods own competing wireless product, access to this data and expertise would have been denied." About DEFYWIRE Defywire is a leading wireless and mobile solution provider. The company's flagship product A primary product of a company, which is typically why the company was founded and/or what made it well known. For example, MS-DOS, Windows and the Microsoft Office suite have been flagship products of Microsoft. CorelDRAW is a flagship product of Corel Corporation. , Defywire Mobility Suite, extends the enterprise by providing mobile employees with secure, real-time access to corporate information systems. Headquartered in Herndon, VA, Defywire is led by a seasoned management team with in-depth knowledge of wireless offerings. For more information, visit www.defywire.com. |
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