HP sues ex-CEO to keep trade secrets from Oracle
Hewlett-Packard recently filed a lawsuit against ex-CEO, Mark Hurd to prevent him from joining Oracle. The company believes that sensitive information could fall into competitor’s hands.
Mark Hurd recently resigned from Hewlett-Packard after a very public sex scandal. Oracle quickly swooped down and picked up Hurd not too long after his resignation. There can only be one reason why a major tech company like Oracle would pick up someone such as Hurd with a public scandal – to get at HP’s trade secrets.
According to CNN, HP believes that Hurd has put its “most valuable trade secrets and confidential information in peril,” by joining Oracle as co-president.
Unfortunately for HP, all parties are located in California where non-compete rules don’t apply. However, HP did get Hurd to sign a confidentiality agreement in exchange for a $12 million severance package.
The confidentiality agreement requires Hurd to refrain from conducting any “conflicting business activities” with HP rivals. HP and Oracle compete in same markets providing enterprise storage and server solutions.
HP argues that by Hurd joining Oracle as co-president, it will be inevitable that he will breach the confidentiality agreement. There is definitely some merit to this argument, but It will be interesting to see how the courts interpret the agreement.
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