Jawbone Sues Wearable Fitness Tracker Maker Fitbit Over Data Plundering

Fitbit, a company that makes wearable fitness trackers, has been sued by its biggest competitors, Jawbone. Jawbone claims that Fitbit hired its employees in order to get data regarding wearable fitness trackers prompting Jawbone to file data plundering charges.

The New York Times reported Jawbone's lawsuit was filed in California State Court on Wednesday, accusing Fitbit of plundering confidential information by hiring Jawbone employees who illegally downloaded sensitive materials before they left the company.

Jawbone wrote in the complaint that the case is being filed because Fitbit stole its talents, trade secrets, and intellectual property.

This comes as a surprise since Fitbit, a company that specializes on wristbands and clippable devices that monitor a user's fitness activity, launched this month an initial public offering in order to take advantage of the demand for wearable tracking devices by the market. Fitbit is in a tight competition with Jawbone's Up and the Apple Watch.

The lawsuit by Jawbone notes that recruiters for the competitor contacted at least a third of their employees this year and some of those who were contacted decided to leave but were not caught downloading the files illegally as these individuals used thumb drive and deleted their system logs.

Jawbone gave a concrete example regarding the illegal downloading of data as they stated that a certain former employee named Ana Rosario was hired by Fitbit on April 16 but left Jawbone on April 22. Before leaving, Rosario had a meeting with the senior director of Jawbone where they discussed the future plans of the company. She then downladed what Jawbone describes as its "playbook" that outlined the company's future products.

The lawsuit filed by Jawbone came shortly after reports have surfaced that the company, once specializing in handheld units, is suffering from financial turmoil. However, a representative pointed out that customers' demand for Jawbone products are high as the financial health of the company.

Jawbone's court filing, however, seeks relief from financial damages caused by Fitbit and to prevent their former employees from giving away important and sensitive information. Fitbit is yet to comment on this issue.