Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) has settled a year long issue with Alan Patmore, a former general manager who was accused of “wholesale theft” of the company’s trade secrets when he left Zynga to join Kixeye as the Vice President of product in September 2012.
Alan Patmore was the general manager of some of the most popular games like Cityville in Zynga.
Patmore accepts mistake
A month after Patmore’s exit, the gaming firm filed a case against Patmore alleging that he took away over 760 documents from his work PC drop box before serving his last day at Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA). According to the suit, these files had design documents for yet to be released games, future monetization plans and compensation details of employees.
Patmore said in a statement yesterday: “I accept responsibility for making a serious mistake by copying and taking Zynga confidential information when I resigned from Zynga.” He further said that he understands the after effects of his act and sincerely apologizes to Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) and former colleagues.
Kixeye, Zynga issued a joint statement
There was no word from either of the companies over the nature of settlement or whether any cash was involved. A joint statement issued by them said that both Zynga and Kixeye have reached a mutually agreeable settlement of their litigation that involves Alan Patmore in San Francisco Superior court.
Kixeye earlier was in denial mode and said that two files recovered from Patmore did not contain anything confidential, and filed a suit against Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) alleging the company for interfering with the business relations and recruiting practices. Will Harbin, CEO of Kixeye called Zynga a “predatory company” and said that they would “fight to [their] last breath” against “Zynga’s legal bullying” to show “Kixeye played no part in this.”
Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) has been struggling over the past several year or so, and has tried slashing jobs, changing CEO, but owing to intense competition, the company seems to be pulling back from original strategic plans. Shares of the company tumbled almost 70 percent since it issued its IPO in December 2011.
John Doerr, a Zynga board member, said during the TechCrunch Disrupt Conference, “We have to get Zynga’s stock price to where God intended it to be.”
