Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) has been sued by Zettaset, a former partner, alleging the chip maker misappropriated trade secrets for enterprise Hadoop management software, according to a report from Gigaom. Zettaset filed the case last week in California.
Accusations against Intel
In a press release, the Mountain View, Calif. based startup said “among other things … Intel unlawfully extracted trade secrets from Zettaset’s product and technology to such a level that the Intel Manager for Apache Hadoop Software now mirrors the features and functionality of Zettaset’s Orchestrator software.”
Zettaset has accused Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) of doubling the configuration settings of the benchmark test, which was conducted by both the companies, even though the benchmark settings were compatible to run on high-performance solid-state drives while Intel’s Hadoop distribution was designed for hard-disk drives.
According to Zettaset, Intel’s distribution is the sole commercial Hadoop on which Orchestrator is not compatible. Zettaset has also accused Intel of offering Zettaset’s partners and potential customers its own product against Zettaset.
Email from Zettaset President
A spokesperson emailed a statement from Zettaset President and CEO Jim Vogt regarding some specifics of the lawsuit:
The email read that Zettaset and Intel have been in a deep business relationship since 2012, in regards to the Zettaset Hadoop management layer, Orchestrator. The partnership was in good faith to take ahead the commercial relationship. During that time, Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) had access into Zettaset’s product and technology, including proprietary and highly confidential information. However, during the Strata conference this year, Intel unveiled a Hadoop management framework similar to Zettaset’s Orchestrator product.
In the email, it was mentioned that trade secrets and technology of Zettaset were mishandled and inappropriately secured under an NDA agreement. Thus, the company raised a case against Intel on Thursday, October 10, 2013 for breach of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets. Further, it was mentioned in the email that Zettaset is not fond of court, or lawyers, or litigation, but it has a responsibility to shareholders and investors to protect intellectual property, which is the core value to their business.
Intel entered the Hadoop market in 2013
Orchestrator by Zettaset is used to make the deployment and management of Hadoop clusters easier. Zettaset gives utmost importance to security features of that product. Zettaset was previously known as GOTO metrics and was changed to Zettaset in 2011. It has raised $13 million in venture capital.
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) entered into the Hadoop market in early 2013 with Intel Distribution and Intel Manager for Apache Hadoop software. In China, Intel is offering its own Hadoop software.
