Texan 3D printer providerEssentium Inc.已提出一项动议，以驳回全球制造业巨头针对该指控的指控Jabil.
在2019年6月28日提交的投诉中Jabil accused Essentium employees of intellectual property (IP) theftrelating to a project the same employees were involved with in prior contracts for the global manufacturer. Specifically, the lawsuit stated that “Essentium’s HSE printers are, foundationally, outdated iterations of Jabil’s TenX.”
In response to the allegations, Steve Birdwell, Essentium’s Chairman of the Board写了一封信stating that “This action is entirely without merit, and we are responding to it aggressively.”
On August 19, 2019, Essentium therefore moved to dismiss “seventy percent of the claims asserted as being without merit as a matter of law.” In another letter on the company’s site, Essentium CEO Blake Teipel has now stated, “As for the other claims, Essentium asserts that in due course, it will demonstrate that Jabil had no trade secret or confidential information that could give rise to any claim of theft or misappropriation, nor did Essentium and the other defendants do so.”
The CEO also accuses Jabil of bullying behavior and “attempting to derail innovation.”
贾比尔的指控
Likemany other companiesin the 3D printing industry, Jabil and Essentium histories are entwined. Dating back prior to 2016, several members of Essentium’s founding team were employees at Jabil, charged in part with working on a confidential project for the company. This project was development of the so-called TenX 3D printer, an as-yet unreleased system from Jabil, reportedly capable of print speeds ten times faster than competing methods.
While the question of print speed claims is not something that would warrant a lawsuit on its own, on the release of the company’sHSE 180-S, also reporting the same print speeds with an FFF-based technology, the work history of some of Essentium’s team prompted Jabil’s allegation of IP theft . Essentium’s current CPO Erik Gjovik, the company’s former CCO Greg Ojeda, and Terry MacNeish, head of R&D, have all been accused of “conspiring against” Jabil while under contract with the company.
“On the Topic of Innovation”
In addition to a statement by Birdwell, Teipel followed Jabil’s allegation with a letter to its partners “On the Topic of Innovation.” In it, the CEO states that “Essentium will not be distracted from our vision and our strategy to transform the future of industrial-scale manufacturing.”
“That Jabil seeks to undermine the honest work of others in the additive manufacturing industry sends a chilling message to innovators everywhere,” Teipel continues, “thus causing harm well beyond Essentium and its customers and partners.”
跟随日期为2019年8月3日的这封信中的评论，Teipel于8月20日补充说：“当我们的市场面临破坏时，会有破坏者和破坏者。通常，任职者受到破坏。这些现任者抵制变革。”
“Jabil appears to be behaving like an incumbent and is attempting to derail innovation – particularly fast-paced innovation like that of Essentium and other startups.”
The full letter posted by the CEO can be read below.
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Featured image shows Essentium’s High Speed Extrusion 3D Printing Platform. Photo via Essentium.
