'Does' Sued For Sharing Apple's Secrets

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August 02, 2000 (4:56 PM EDT)

By Mark Hachman,

Apple Computer sued 25 unidentified individuals Wednesday for disclosing upcoming Apple products on the Internet.

The lawsuit, filed in Superior Court in Santa Clara County, Calif., charges "Doe 1" and 24 other unnamed individuals with the "misappropriation of trade secrets." The suit seeks monetary damages and an injunction against further disclosures.

Apple (stock: AAPL) said it does not know the names of the individuals and will amend the complaint as soon as they are identified.

According to the suit, the defendants published images of Apple's dual-processor Power Mac G4 on the Internet on or around Feb. 25. The suit also charges them with posting digital images of the Apple Pro Mouse.

Apple, Cupertino, Calif., publicly announced both products on July 19 at the Macworld trade show.

The product information was posted "on publicly accessible areas of the Internet," the suit said. Apple officials on Wednesday declined to specify whether the information appeared on a website, a bulletin board, or a message board.

Apple's lead attorney, George Riley, a lawyer at O'Melveny & Myers, San Francisco, did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

In the court document, Apple maintains that the early release of product information put it at a competitive disadvantage and caused it "material harm." Apple also believes the unreleased products can be legally classified as "trade secrets."

"If Apple's competitors were aware of Apple's Future Product Information, these competitors could benefit economically from that knowledge by directing their product development or marketing to counteract Apple's plans," according to the suit. "Information about Apple's future products ... is not commonly known to the public or to other persons who can obtain economic value from its disclosure or use. The secrecy of this information provides Apple with a substantial business advantage."

Apple said it believes Doe 1 materially benefited from his or her knowledge and that it should be compensated for its losses. The amount and type of compensation will be determined at trial, the company said in the suit.