Rivos, a chip startup, is suing Apple Inc., alleging that the tech giant requires employees to sign restrictive agreements that ban them from working elsewhere and discourage up-and-coming companies that hiring its personnel.
Rivos and six ex-Apple employees filed a countersuit in a San Jose federal court on Friday, escalating a heated trade secret fight that began last year when Apple sued Rivos and former employees who joined the business. Rivos is fighting back, asking the court to declare Apple’s overbroad non-disclosure and non-solicitation agreements unenforceable.
“Afraid of any threat of legitimate competition in the marketplace, and hoping to frighten and send a message to any employees who might dare to leave Apple to work somewhere else, Apple has resorted to trying to thwart emerging startups through anti-competitive measures, including illegally restricting employee mobility”, Rivos wrote in its countersuit.
In a complaint, Apple accused the startup and its employees of enticing away its engineers and obtaining valuable information used to develop its own chip designs. The argument centers on system-on-chip technology, which reduces many computing parts into a compact chip and in which Apple claims to have invested billions of dollars to make its gadgets more powerful.
Rivos alleges that Apple’s Intellectual Property Agreement, which employees must sign as a condition of employment, is so broad as to cover anything learned during the course of employment, regardless of whether it is a trade secret.
The agreement includes a non-solicitation term, which is designed to, and Apple uses to, chill employee mobility and competition, according to Rivos’ countersuit.
Furthermore, according to Rivos’ countersuit, Apple permits employees to save work documents in their iCloud and iMessage accounts but does not inspect their data and messages after they depart.
In 2019, Apple sued Gerard Williams III, who quit his employment as Apple’s principal chip architect to co-found the chip startup Nuvia Inc., for trade secret theft in a California state court.
In a court filing, Williams retorted that Apple’s case is intended to suffocate the creation of new technologies and solutions by a new business and to diminish the freedom of entrepreneurs to seek out more fulfilling work.
In April, Apple requested that the lawsuit against Williams be dismissed by the Santa Clara County Superior Court.
According to the startup, Apple utilized the same playbook that was used against Nuvia and Williams to target Rivos.
Apple’s trade secret accusations against Rivos were dismissed by US District Judge Edward Davila in August, but the iPhone maker was given the opportunity to file a fresh lawsuit.
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