Stefan Mileschin

Its woes get worse

Fitness watch maker Fitbit is having a few financial problems at the moment, but things appear to be getting worse after six of its staff are facing criminal charges for nicking technology.

The indictment against one current and five former Fitbit employees accuses them of taking stolen trade secrets from their former employer, Jawbone, to their new jobs at Fitbit.

The named defendants include six former and current Fitbit employees: Katherine Mogal, 52, of San Francisco; Ana Rosario, 33, of Pacifica; Patrick Narron, 41, of Boulder Creek; Patricio Romano, 37, of Calabasas; Rong Zhang, 45, of El Cerrito; and Jing Qi Weiden, 39, of San Jose. Mogal faces six counts, while Weiden only faces one—the others range between two and five counts.

It was not clear which of these six is the current Fitbit employee. According to LinkedIn Rosario and Narron left the company years ago.

Authorities say each had worked for Jawbone for at least a year between May 2011 and April 2015 and allegedly violated their confidentiality agreement. While working for Jawbone, they were seemingly recruited to work for Fitbit, and, prosecutors claim, took trade secrets along.

The defendants are scheduled to make their first appearance in court on July 9, 2018, at 1:30 pm before US Magistrate Judge Virginia K. DeMarchi in San Jose.

https://fudzilla.com/news/iot/46556-...iminal-charges