Another big Co very interested in the image storage business*********
Quote.com News Item #4630731
Headline: Bayer Unit Sues GE To Prevent Ex-Employee From Divulging Secrets
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By William M. Carley
Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal
A U.S. unit of Bayer AG of Germany said it sued General Electric Co.
in Federal District Court in Chicago to prevent a former Bayer employee
from divulging medical-imaging trade secrets to GE.
Agfa, the Bayer unit, sought a temporary restraining order that would
stop Vishal Wanchoo, who had been Agfa's vice president of electronic
imaging, from using Agfa's customer and product data to benefit GE's
medical systems business.
At a hearing Friday, no court orders were issued, and a second
hearing was scheduled for Dec. 12, a spokesman for General Electric
said.
Mr. Wanchoo had headed Agfa's picture archiving and communications
systems for hospitals and other medical centers. He left Agfa, whose
U.S. operations are based in Ridgefield Park, N.J., on Nov. 14 and
subsequently went to work for GE medical, an Agfa spokeswoman said.
A GE spokesman called the Agfa suit "meritless" and said GE is
confident it will prevail in court.
General Electric's medical unit, based in Waukesha, Wis., recently
announced a major program to enter the digital-imaging field. While
current systems often use film to record X-rays, a digital system can
record and store X-rays and a variety of other medical scans in
computers, and swiftly transmit the pictures to doctors in other
locations for their examination.
Agfa, in a news release, called its digital system "the world's
leading" product line, and said GE medical is a major competitor. The
news release said that as head of Agfa's system, Mr. Wanchoo "had
integral knowledge of Agfa's customers and product development."
Agfa refused to provide a copy of its court complaint. In the
release, John Glass, Agfa senior vice president, said, "We are concerned
that trade secrets and confidential customer information will end up in
the hands of GE. We cannot allow this to happen."
GE's spokesman said the company "vigorously denies Agfa's assertions
that we hired an Agfa employee for the purpose of obtaining Agfa's trade
secrets." He added that "upon hiring from a competitor, GE has a
rigorous policy to insure that new employees understand their
responsibility not to use or disclose confidential information of a
former employer."
The GE spokesman added that employees "in any industry are free to
work wherever they want. People want to work for GE because we're a
leader, not because they want to bring us trade secrets."
Agfa is part of the Agfa-Gevaert imaging business based in Mortsel,
Belgium, which in turn is a unit of Bayer, a chemical and pharmaceutical
company based in Leverkusen. General Electric has headquarters in
Fairfield, Conn.
Copyright (c) 1997 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
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