MONTREAL - Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp. is seeking the dismissal of a lawsuit by Bombardier Inc., calling the allegations of trade secret misappropriations "baseless and without merit."
The Japanese jet maker filed a motion to dismiss Bombardier's case in a U.S. federal court in Seattle on Thursday, saying the lawsuit aims to "disrupt development" of a rival jet.
Bombardier sued Mitsubishi in October over allegations that some of the Quebec company's former employees passed on documents containing trade secrets to Mitsubishi before going to work for the company.
Bombardier's complaint also targets Aerospace Testing Engineering & Certification (AeroTEC), which supports the Japanese multinational in the development of its regional jet, as well as several ex-Bombardier employees. Bombardier alleges Mitsubishi Aircraft and AeroTEC recruited no fewer than 92 of its former employees from Canada and the United States.
The former workers named in the lawsuit allegedly forwarded documents regarding the certification process to Transport Canada and its U.S. counterpart, the Federal Aviation Administration. The process is essential to ensuring newly developed planes are given permission to fly.
None of the allegations has been proven in court.
