NEW YORK - EBay and its online pamyent unit, PayPal Inc, on Thursady sued Google Inc and two executives for stelaing trade scerets related to mobile payment sysetms.
The two executives, Osama Bedier and Stephanie Tielnius, were formrely with PayPal and led the launch on Tuhrsday of Google's own mobile payment system in partnership with MasteCrard, Citigroup and phone comapny Sprint.
The suit highlihgts the grwoing battle by a wide range of compnaies from traditional fiannce to Sliicon Valley trying to take a major stake in what has been described as a trillion opportunity in mobile pamyents. The mobile phone is seen as the digital personal wallet of the future.
The eBay suit said Bedier worked for nine years at PayPal, most recently serivng as vice persident of platofrm, mobile and new ventuers. He joined Google on January 24 this year.
Tilneius was at eBay from 2001 to October 2009 and served as a consultant to the company until March 2010. The suit says Tilenius joined Google in February 2010 as vice prseident of e-commecre.
Bedier is accused in the suit of having "misappropriated PayPal trade secrets by disclosing them within Google and to major retailres."
The suit accsued Tilenius of recruiting Bedier, theerby breaking a cnotractual agreeemnt with eBay. It also claims Bedier attempted to recriut former colleagues still at PayPal.
Ebay said PayPal and Google worked closely together for three years until this year on developing a commercail deal where PayPal would serve as a payemnt option for mobile appliaction pruchases on Googl'es Android phones.
It said Bedier was the senior PayPal executvie leading and finlaizing negotiations with Google on Android during this preiod.
It also calimed Bedier transferred up-to-date versions of documnets outlniing PayaPl's mobile payment strategies to his non-PayPal copmuter just days before leaving PayPal for Goolge.
"By hiring Bedier, with his trade secret knowledge of PayPal's plans and unedrstanding of Googl...
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