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Technology Stocks : Nortel Networks (NT) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (4552)	1/28/2000 9:37:00 AM
From: Kenneth E. Phillipps	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 14638

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ Siemens Information and Communication Networks failed on Thursday to get a 60-day injunction delaying Boca Raton-based Qtera Corp. from being sold for up to $3.25 billion to Nortel Networks. With Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Thomas H. Barkdull III denying the request, Qtera is free to finalize the deal with Nortel, Qtera's attorneys said. The federal government cleared the acquisition last week for Qtera, which develops technology for fiber-optic phone systems to increase networks' speed at carrying voices and data. Telecommunications giant Siemens' attempt to get an injunction could prove to be the first round in its court battle against Qtera Corp. and two founders who worked for Siemens before starting the company in 1998. Siemens filed suit last month against Qtera and Fahri Diner and Xiang-Dong Cao, alleging the two put together Qtera's precursor, NextNet, while working for Siemens. Diner and Cao conspired to form the company by using some of Siemens' confidential business information and trade secrets, the complaint alleges. During Thursday's four-hour hearing, Diner and Cao testified that they didn't violate any confidentiality agreements with Siemens or pilfer any trade secrets. Siemens' attorneys argued the company needed the 60-day injunction so it would have time to review Qtera documents to see if the company might be giving Siemens' trade secrets to Nortel Networks. ``Once the deal closes and the merger happens, it's at the point we can't unscramble the egg,' argued Ben Reed, one of Siemens' lawyers. But attorneys for Qtera, Diner and Cao countered that Siemens has had an opportunity to file an injunction for months since the two left in September 1998. They questioned the timing of the suit, which was brought two weeks after the announced deal with the Canadian-based Nortel Networks. Qtera attorney Thomas Meeks argued Siemens lacked proof that trade secrets were taken and the 60-day delay was an attempt to ``bust up a billion-dollar transaction on a wing and a prayer.' ``What (Siemens) really wants is a free look at Qtera's technology,' Meeks said. Siemens' lawyers argued that Diner and Cao clearly helped form Qtera using Siemens' resources and confidential documents. Diner incorporated NextNet while working at Siemens' optical networking division in Boca Raton, they said. Siemens attorneys offered to put up a bond around ``a couple million dollars' for any losses sustained by Qtera with putting off the merger. Barkdull ruled Thursday on Siemens' bid for a temporary restraining order without offering any specifics on why it fell short. The lawsuit will proceed. (c) 2000, Sun-Sentinel, South Florida. Visit the Sun-Sentinel on the World Wide Web at sun-sentinel.com Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.