Wed, Oct 25, 2006
Men Left To Start Aspen Avionics
A small multifunction digital avionics display that's won kudos
from Aero-News in the past, is now at the heart of a lawsuit filed
by Albuquerque, New Mexico-based planemaker Eclipse Aviation.
Last week, Eclipse filed suit against Jeff Bethel and Peter
Lyons, two former employees who left Eclipse in July 2005 to start
Aspen Avionics. Aspen's first product, the AT300 Hazard Awareness
display, was certified by the FAA in 2005... and was named one of the best products of
the year by the ANN staff.
Trouble is, according to the Eclipse lawsuit, the AT300 was
designed on company time, and released within one year after the
men left Eclipse... and is thus the sole property of the
very-light-jet manufacturer.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that among the charges in the
lawsuit, Eclipse seeks ownership of Aspen Avionics' AT300
technology, as well as payment of monetary losses incurred because
Eclipse had to outsource technology that performed the functions of
the AT300 product.
The planemaker says
Lyons and Bethel both signed invention and nondisclosure agreements
when they came onboard Eclipse in 2002... and while they worked in
different departments and had little professional interaction, the
two men did exchange emails at Eclipse regarding communications and
navigation software development.
The lawsuit also states the two men emailed one another about
raising capital for Aspen Avionics, and hunted for office space on
company time.
Eclipse also says the men pitched their product at corporate
trade shows... when they were there on the company dime, to help
pitch Eclipse's very-light-jet. The suit also states the Eclipse
500 features systems very similar to the devices developed by Lyons
and Bethel.
No comments yet from either side.
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