Katherine Mogal, a former executive at the now-defunct wireless speaker and fitness tracker company Jawbone, was acquitted earlier this week after a two-week trial over alleged theft of trade secrets.
The criminal indictment, filed in June 2018, alleged that Mogal and five other employees “knowingly received and possessed the Jawbone trade secrets….knowing them to have been stolen and appropriated, obtained, and converted without authorization, with the intent to convert the trade secrets…..to the economic benefit of someone other than Jawbone…” Mogal had left Jawbone to work at Fitbit, another fitness tracker company which is set to be acquired by Alphabet.
Mogal, formerly the director of market and customer experience insights, was specifically accused of retaining possession of trade secrets, including market research studies, after certifying that she had returned all company property subsequent to her departure.
The acquittal only applies to Mogal; the cases against the other former employees have been severed from Mogal’s case and remain pending. The suit against one former employee was dismissed. Mogal was represented by Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe.
A state court case between Jawbone’s parent company Aliphcom and Fitbit was settled out of court. Fitbit is not a named defendant in the criminal case.
