HP sues Mark Hurd

AFTER FORCING OUT its CEO Mark Hurd for fiddling his expenses, HP apparently is determined that he will not work for some time.

The maker of expensive printer ink is apparently furious that its former executive and winer and diner of former soft porn stars has been named as an Oracle president.

In a civil complaint filed in California Superior Court, HP said that Hurd would be putting the company's "most valuable trade secrets and confidential information in peril" by working for Larry Ellison.

HP claims that it gave Hurd huge amounts of cash and stock options in exchange for agreeing to "protect HP's trade secrets and confidential information" during his employment and following his departure.

In a statement HP said it intends to enforce those agreements and added that in his new job Hurd will be in a situation in which he "cannot perform his duties for Oracle without necessarily using and disclosing HP's trade secrets and confidential information to others".

The court has been given a copy of the "Trade Secret Protection Agreements" signed by Hurd on February 6, 2008, February 26, 2009, and February 12, 2010. He apparently had to sign it every year.

HP is asking the court to stop Hurd from holding a position at a competing company. He was named co-president of Oracle this week and given a seat on the board of directors of the company.

Oracle said one of the company's co-presidents, Charles Phillips, was leaving the company and stepping down from the board to make room for Hurd.

Oracle is currently looking to compete with IBM in its software, hardware and services businesses. Unfortunately for it that is the same cunning plan that HP is trying. µ