Wal-Mart accuses Amazon.com of stealing trade secrets

NEWS Amazon.com, renowned for its online sales success, is to appear in court today charged with copying the back-end systems of US retail giant, Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, has accused Amazon.com of recruiting 15 of its IT experts to find out how its retail and distribution technology works. Under the Arkansas Trade Secrets Act, a company is forbidden from using the trade secrets of its rivals for its own benefit. The world's largest retailer wants its home town court - Benton, Arkansas - to issue a temporary injunction against Amazon.com's sales systems. Amazon.com denies the claims. Officials said that new recruits are explicitly instructed not to use any trade secrets learned in their previous jobs. The company's court documents also accuse Wal-Mart of intimidating any company that attempts to recruit its former employees, according to US reports. The trial was originally planned for early December, but was delayed for undisclosed reasons. Wal-Mart has a strong hold on Benton, where the first hearing takes place. As the local newspaper, the Benton County Daily Paper, puts it: "Nearly every aspect of daily life for these citizens is in some way related to the success of the Wal-Mart retail giant, its Associates, and their families." But the trial, if heated, is unlikely to be one-sided. Unions have been holding strikes in Benton this month in protest at working conditions for Wal-Mart's 800,000 employees.