BOEING is seeking a court order to block further use of its trade secrets by Virgin Galactic after the companies stopped working together on a space tourism project.
The proprietary data was shared with Virgin Galactic when it engaged Boeing’s Aurora Flight Sciences unit to help develop a so-called Mothership jet carrier. But after the companies ended their collaboration last year, Virgin Galactic refused to honor its contractual promise to destroy two sets of trade secrets, according to a complaint the US planemaker filed in federal court in eastern Virginia.
Virgin Galactic’s ongoing retention and use of the information to develop its new jet carrier “deprives Boeing and Aurora of their exclusive property rights and imposes irreparable harm by risking exposure to other competitors, after which the information cannot retain its secret status,” according to the filing.
Richard Branson-founded Virgin Galactic Holdings kicked off commercial spaceflight operations last year after nearly two decades of development, although it has paused flights planned for the latter portion of this year to keep costs under control while it develops its next-generation Delta spaceplane.
“We believe this lawsuit is wrong on the facts and the law, and we will vigorously defend ourselves in the appropriate forum,” Virgin Galactic said in a statement.
Boeing is seeking a preliminary injunction requiring Virgin Galactic to destroy, or at least sequester, all copies of the documents as well as any work derived from the proprietary information. It also wants Virgin Galactic to make no further use of the data, pending resolution of the case, and identify any third parties to whom it disclosed the information. BLOOMBERG
