Abbott Labs sues its former scientist over alleged trade-secrets theft
"Companies could use the information stolen by Tyre to quickly and cheaply develop products in competition with Abbott's current portfolio of nutritional products," the lawsuit alleged.;
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New Delhi: Healthcare company Abbott Laboratories on Tuesday sued one of its former scientists, accusing him in US court of "secretly downloading" sensitive corporate files containing competitive information about nutrition products.
The lawsuit in Chicago federal court alleged Roger Tyre committed "flagrant misconduct" prior to leaving Illinois-based Abbott, which sells the Ensure brand nutrition powders and shakes. Abbott said it learned of the alleged downloads of thousands of files in March.
Tyre, who worked at Abbott from 2012 to 2018, developed products and "supported Abbott's existing products by troubleshooting and addressing any issues," according to Abbott's complaint. Formulations for products, the lawsuit said, "are valuable trade secrets and maintaining that secrecy is critical to Abbott's business."
"Companies could use the information stolen by Tyre to quickly and cheaply develop products in competition with Abbott's current portfolio of nutritional products," the lawsuit alleged.
An Abbott spokesperson and a lawyer for the company also did not respond to messages seeking comment.
Better Nutritionals, according to the lawsuit, contacted Abbott in March after allegedly discovering two USB drives from Tyre's office before his departure from the California-based company.
Abbott is seeking unspecified monetary damages, an injunction "prohibiting Tyre from using or disclosing Abbott's trade secrets or confidential information." The lawsuit marked the latest effort by Abbott in the US courts to protect trade secrets.
In 2020, Abbott claimed a breach of an employment agreement in a lawsuit against a vice president of global marketing in the company's diagnostics business. The case settled less than a month after it was filed. Abbott sued a senior clinical and regulatory senior director last year, and also settled that case within about a month.
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