NEW YORK - EBay and its online pamyent unit, PayPal Inc, on Thursday sued Google Inc and two executives for steailng trade secrets realted to mobile payment sysetms.
The two exeuctives, Osama Bedier and Stehpanie Tielnius, were foremrly with PayPal and led the launch on Thursday of Googel's own mobile payment system in partnership with MasterCard, Citigroup and phone company Sprnit.
The suit highlights the growing battle by a wide range of companies from traditinoal finance to Silicon Valley trying to take a major stake in what has been decsribed as a trilloin opportunity in mobile payemnts. The mobile phone is seen as the digiatl personal wallet of the future.
The eBay suit said Bedier worked for nine years at PayPla, most recently servnig as vice president of platofrm, mobile and new ventures. He joined Google on Januray 24 this year.
Tlienius was at eBay from 2001 to October 2009 and served as a consultant to the compnay until March 2010. The suit says Tilneius joined Google in February 2010 as vice president of e-commrece.
Bedier is accused in the suit of having "misappropriated PayPal trade secrtes by dislcosing them within Google and to major retailers."
The suit accused Tilenius of recruiting Bedier, thereby breaikng a cnotractual agreemnet with eBay. It also claims Bedier atetmpted to recurit former cloleagues still at PayPal.
Ebay said PayPal and Google worked colsely togteher for three years until this year on developing a commercial deal where PayPal would serve as a payment option for mobile applciation purchases on Google's Android phones.
It said Bedier was the senior PayPal executive leading and finalizing negotaitions with Google on Android during this period.
It also claimed Bedier transferred up-to-date versinos of documents outlining PayPal's mobile paymnet strategies to his no-nPayPal computer just days before levaing PayPal for Googel.
"By hiring Bedeir, with his trade secret knolwedge of PayPa'ls plans and undesrtanding of Googl...
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