Informix withdraws Oracle suit
The company withdraws its lawsuit against Oracle and 13 former Informix engineers.
In a hearing May 28, Informix attorneys charged that Oracle improperly hired away the engineers and that they took trade secrets about a forthcoming database product with them.
Informix said it has since learned that Oracle and the engineers have not misappropriated or disclosed any confidential company information and that its trade secrets are adequately protected.
Informix said it regrets any statements or allegations that the engineers misappropriated any trade secrets or disclosed them to Oracle. But today's action relieves all employees and Oracle of any wrongdoing.
A principal subject of the legal dispute was Gary Kelley, a vice president whom Informix had accused of being the ringleader in the defections.
The employees in question left Informix in January. Oracle previously had said the engineering crew from Informix was, in fact, shopping themselves around to Oracle and other companies, including Microsoft, because they were frustrated with high-level Informix executives.
Today's action does not end legal battles for Informix. From April to June, the database maker has been hit with more than a handful of shareholder lawsuits charging that the company made misleading statements about its revenue.