A judge for the United States International Trade Commission ruled that Fitbit did not steal trade secrets from rival fitness tracker company Jawbone, as alleged by Jawbone in the lawsuit filed against Fitbit last year.
In the lawsuit, Jawbone claimed that Fitbit systematically stole its trade secrets by poaching employees, who first downloaded confidential information from the database of Jawbone, such as supply chains, business plans and technical specifications, before transferring to Fitbit.
According to ITC Judge Sandra Dee Lord, Fitbit, along with its contract manufacturer Flextronics International, did not steal Jawbone trade secrets to make its wearable devices.
"No party has been shown to have misappropriated any trade secret," Lord said in the notice that was posted on the ITC website, with the full findings to be released to the public after both companies are given the opportunity to withdraw the confidential information that was included in the case.
Jawbone was looking to secure an import ban against the products of Fitbit. Both companies manufacture their devices overseas and then import the wearables into the United States. With the ruling, Fitbit will be able to continue importing their products into the United States and sell them in the country.
Jawbone comes away with nothing to show from the complaint that it filed to the ITC in July 2015, in which it accused Fitbit of infringements on six patents alongside its practice of poaching employees. Two of the patent cases were withdrawn and the four others were deemed invalid by the judge.
James Park, the CEO of Fitbit, said that the company was pleased with the ITC's rejection of the claims of Jawbone, with Fitbit maintaining from the beginning of the case that the allegations of its rival were without merit. According to Park, the move by Jawbone was nothing more than a desperate attempt to disrupt the momentum of Fitbit, as Jawbone is trying to compensate for its own lack of success in the wearables market.
A representative for Jawbone, meanwhile, said that the company will be seeking a review of the ruling, as the case handled by the ITC only involved a small part of the trade secrets said to be stolen by Fitbit and Flextronics due to the agency's limited jurisdiction.
The company will be moving forward with its larger trade secret case against its rival, which is headed to a jury trial in California. With the full scope of Jawbone's claims, the company is confident that it will prevail when the case is heard by the jury.
