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Atmel - Injunction -2:Bars Vitesse From Using Info On Atmel
Dow Jones Newswires
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Atmel Corp. (ATML) gained a preliminary injunction
against Vitesse Semiconductor Corp. (VTSS) and three former Atmel
employees who are now employed by Vitesse.
In a press release Thursday, Atmel said the injunction from a Colorado
district court bars Vitesse from using alleged confidential information
from Atmel attained through the former employees, and also bars Vitesse
from using the the former Atmel employees to recruit employees away from
Atmel.
According to Atmel, the court found that the former employees had signed
employment agreements with Atmel agreeing to maintain the
confidentiality of Atmel's information and also agreeing not to solicit,
recruit or attempt to persuade other employees to leave Atmel. The court
also allegedly found personnel information available to the former
employees, including employee rankings and appraisals, to be Atmel's
confidential information.
Atmel's lawsuit against Vitesse, filed in November 1997, alleged
misappropriation of the company's proprietary information, know-how and
business value through the "wrongful solicitation" of Atmel employees by
Vitesse.
Atmel designs, develops, makes and markets memory, logic, analog and
microcontroller products, and system-level integration products.
Vitesse officials could not be immediately reached for comment. |
