Jawbone Smartwatches: Company Says Fitbit Stole Company Secrets, Wants Sales Halted
Jawbone wants Fitbit to stop importing their fitness trackers or their parts because they say the popular fitness tracking company stole company secrets from them, TechRadar reports.
This will be the third lawsuit that Jawbone has filed against Fitbit. The most recent lawsuit was in May and it also claimed that Fitbit stole company secrets from Jawbone.
Jawbone claims that Fitbit took employees from Jawbone in order to learn company secrets and about the products that they were set to release, CNet reports.
Jawbone is using this latest lawsuit to speed up the past two lawsuits. Jawbone hopes for a quick decision on the lawsuit, likely within 15 months or less.
The most recent lawsuit was filed with the International Trade Commission and its decision would be faster than the two previous lawsuits filed with the San Francisco Superior Court and U.S. District Court.
If successful, a decision could be made before 15 months is up. This would force Fitbit to cease-and-desist the import of their devices and parts and could create problems with the company.
Fitbit is extremely successful in the wearable tech market. Since 2011, they have sold about 21 million wearable devices. They also own about a 34 percent share of the wearable tech market.
Fitbit recently went public with an intial public offering (IPO) and Jawbone's allegations have come since then.
The allegations against Fitbit have not yet had an impact on the company's performance. Since debuting, the company's stock price has doubled to $42.
Stakes are high in the wearables market and Jawbone is serious about these lawsuits. Recently, research firm CCS Insight said that by 2018, 172 wearable devices will be sold worldwide. That's a big increase from the just 29 million devices sold in 2014. The lawsuit between Jawbone and Fitbit could be a major fight for the market share.
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