Agilent Technologies has filed litigation against Advanced Materials Technology (AMT) in the Delaware Court of Chancery to protect its high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) technology
The complaint contends that three former Agilent employees, now with AMT, breached the confidentiality of their employment agreements, misappropriated Agilent trade secrets and breached their fiduciary duties with respect to Agilent's HPLC intellectual property.
The litigation filing alleges that Agilent trade secrets and confidential information were used by AMT in developing its Halo HPLC columns.
"Agilent is built on a long-standing foundation of integrity and high ethical standards by our employees in both their external and internal interactions," said Mike McMullen, vice president and general manager of Agilent's chemical analysis solutions unit.
"This is an unfortunate, but reasonable and necessary action to vigorously protect our intellectual property".
Agilent is a global supplier of HPLC instruments, consumables and support.
HPLC is a form of liquid chromatography used frequently in biochemistry and analytical chemistry.
Sometimes referred to as high-pressure liquid chromatography, it is used to separate components of a mixture by using a variety of chemical interactions between the substance being analysed and the chromatography column.
