Announces Victory in Long-Standing Lawsuit Against Alternative Technology Solutions and Its Founders
After a long wait and turn of events, Epicor Software Corporation finally wins long-running lawsuit against California-based Alternative Technology Solutions and certain Alternative employees, including Alternative’s co-founders CEO Vivian Keena and CTO Donna Barnett.
The copyright and intellectual property infringement lawsuit, which was originally filed by Epicor in March 2013 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, alleged that Alternative, through its executives and employees, misappropriated and misused Epicor’s intellectual property and proprietary and confidential information.
Pursuant to a settlement agreement reached this week, Alternative will assign to Epicor all of Alternative’s business and assets related to the servicing of Epicor customers, as well as the Alternative brand name, domain names, website, and phone numbers. Further, Alternative will cease any use of Epicor’s trade secrets, copyrights, trademarks, and other intellectual property. Alternative and its principal shareholders have also agreed to make a substantial payment to Epicor.
In addition, Alternative will be bound by an ongoing consent decree with the federal court permanently enjoining it, as well as the individual defendants named in the lawsuit, from using Epicor’s trade secrets or otherwise violating Epicor’s intellectual property. Separately, Alternative and its principal shareholders have entered into a stringent non-compete agreement, which restricts them from providing competitive products or services to Epicor’s customers.
“We are extremely pleased with this successful result, which vindicates the position we have taken from the outset of this lawsuit,” said Kathy Crusco, executive vice president and CFO for Epicor. “Our intellectual property and our customers are among our most valuable assets, representing decades of investment and the dedication of our employees to develop software that over 20,000 customers worldwide depend on to run their businesses. The outcome of this lawsuit sends a strong message that we will not tolerate the misappropriation of our intellectual property.”
