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Newport Beach software firm wins $26.1 million jury award [The Orange County Register :: ](Orange County Register (CA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) April 15--MSC Software Corp., a Newport Beach maker of simulation software, has won a $26.1 million judgment from a Michigan company accused of taking trade secrets and breach of employee confidentiality agreements. In 2007, MSC sued Altair Engineering Inc. and eight former employees in federal court claiming they went to work for the Troy, Mich., company and subsequently disclosed confidential information about MSC's Adams simulation product line. MSC claimed the workers had been "integrally involved in the development, improvement and/or marketing of the Adams product line." After the employees left, MSC said Altair began marketing software in direct competition with MSC's software. After a six-week trial, a Michigan jury April 10 found on behalf of MSC and determined Altair should pay $26.1 million in damages. The jury said two former MSC employees who are now Altair executives should pay a small fraction of the $26.1 million award. The jury also determined the former workers should pay a part of $425,000 in damages awarded for a separate count for breach of the non-solicitation provisions in their employee contracts. (Five of the former employees who were sued subsequently were dropped from the suit and the sixth was not found liable for damages.) "We welcome vigorous competition in the market," Dominic Gallello MSC's chief executive said in a statement. "Every company has a right to innovate, but no company should be allowed to misappropriate a competitor's intellectual property." Altair issued a statement saying the company has set the highest technical and ethical standards in its 29 years in business. "While we respect the hard work of the jurors to hear and rule on what is undoubtedly a deeply technical case, we are disappointed and disagree with the verdict," said the statement. "This case is not over, and we are continuing to pursue our legal options." Contact the writer: 714-796-3646 or [email protected] ___ (c)2014 The Orange County Register (Santa Ana, Calif.) Visit The Orange County Register (Santa Ana, Calif.) at www.ocregister.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |