The Space Data Corporation out of Chandler, Arizona has filed a lawsuit against Google’s parent company, Alphabet, alleging the company stole its trade secrets. The trade secrets in question have to do with Google’s Project Loon which is a balloon based wireless network system.
UPDATE (6/16/2016 07:50ET): Google declined to comment at this time.
Project Loon is looking to bring internet connectivity to remote places in the world but Space Data Corporation believes it’s being done with their ideas. The company has brought the infringement lawsuit against Alphabet in a Northern California District Court, you can read the entire court document in the lengthy PDF.
As set forth in detail below, Project Loon improperly and unlawfully utilizes Space Data’s confidential information and trade secrets which Space Data disclosed to Defendant Google
pursuant to a 2007 Mutual Confidentiality and Non-Disclosure Agreement (“NDA”). Space Data will further demonstrate that Project Loon infringes Space Data’s patents.
Space Data Corporation says that the company met with up to 10 Google representatives including founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin to discuss a partnership between the two companies. The content of those meeting had to do with confidential Space Data Corporation information and the meeting did have an NDA as part of the procedure.
According to the filing the two patents Google is infringing are U.S. Patent 6628941 and U.S. Patent 7801522. Both of these patents were in existence before Project Loon was conceived and were granted to Space Data Corporation for use under projects “SkySat” and “SkySite.”
‘Project Loon improperly and unlawfully utilizes Space Data’s confidential information and trade secrets which Space Data disclosed to Defendant Google pursuant to a 2007 Mutual Confidentiality and Non-Disclosure Agreement,’ the complaint states.
Space Data Corporation is looking for damages for patent infringement, breach of the NDA, and stealing trade secrets. We’ve reached out to Google for comment and will update this story should we hear back.
What do you think of these allegations? Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.
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