IBM wins UK lawsuit against LzLabs over alleged theft of mainframe technology

LONDON : IBM on Monday won a London lawsuit against U.S. tech entrepreneur and philanthropist John Moores' company LzLabs, which the IT giant accused of stealing trade secrets.

IBM sued Switzerland-based LzLabs, two English subsidiaries and their ultimate owner Moores, who previously owned Major League Baseball's San Diego Padres team and founded information technology company BMC Software in 1980, at the High Court.

The company alleged LzLabs' UK subsidiary Winsopia purchased an IBM mainframe computer and agreed a licence with IBM in 2013, before using the access to reverse-engineer IBM's mainframe software.

LzLabs and Moores fought the lawsuit, arguing LzLabs developed its own software after nearly a decade of work and there was no unlawful use of IBM's licensed software.

But the High Court largely ruled in IBM's favour, with Judge Finola O'Farrell saying in a written ruling that Winsopia breached the terms of its IBM software licence and that "LzLabs and Mr Moores unlawfully procured (those) breaches."

Monday's ruling followed a trial last year to determine whether the defendants were liable to IBM, with a further hearing to determine any damages to take place in due course.

IBM's case against another British subsidiary, LzLabs Limited, and LzLabs' current and former CEO was rejected.

IBM and LzLabs did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Moores could not immediately be reached for comment.