XPRT Ventures LLC has sued EBay Inc. (EBAY) for at least $3.8 billion for trade secret theft, misappropriation and infringement of six patents to develop online payment systems such as PayPal.
In a complaint filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court of Delaware, lawyers for the Greenwich, CT-based XPRT said that the online auction site “unfairly stole” and used confidential and proprietary information from XPRT.
The lawsuit alleges that the Inventors listed on XPRT’s patents shared their patent applications, and ideas on how to implement such concepts with eBay in confidence. XPRT, which holds significant patents covering e-commerce payment systems and methods, asserts that eBay stole the idea and method of payment and used it in PayPal and similar electronic payment systems.
“eBay’s unauthorized incorporation was a misuse of Inventors’ confidential and proprietary material”, the complaint said.
The lawsuit seeks a minimum $3.8 billion in monetary damages in present and future damages on a present value basis.
ebay shares gained 81 cents, or 4.00%, to $21.03 in AH action Tuesday.
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