Abbott alleges ex-marketing exec lifted its neuromod marketing playbook

Abbott (NYSE:ABT) this week accused a former marketing executive of purloining the marketing playbook for its neuromodulation business on his way out the door to a marketing job at competitor Nevro Corp. (NYSE:NVRO). In a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for Northern Illinois, Abbott alleged that former neuromodulation global marketing product manager Blayne Fleck was instrumental in crafting the Chicago-area company’s marketing and global expansion plans. On Oct. 3, just a week after the plan was finalized, according to the Oct. 15 complaint, Fleck tendered his resignation and said he’d accepted a job at neuromod rival Nevro. “Fleck was intimately involved in the development of highly proprietary and confidential strategic plans – Abbott’s proverbial 2019 ‘playbook’ – directed specifically to chronic pain therapies, the use of which by a competitor would be devastating for Abbott’s business,” the company said in the suit. “Because Fleck led the team that developed the 2019 marketing plan just a few weeks ago, he knows Abbott’s strategic objectives and its plan for achieving them, regardless of whether he retained a physical copy of the plan.” The lawsuit charges Fleck with one count of breach of contract and a count each under the Defend Trade Secrets Act and the Illinois Defend Trade Secrets Act. In a separate filing, Abbott also sought a temporary restraining order, barring Fleck from taking the Nevro job f...
Source: Mass Device - Category: Medical Devices Authors: Tags: Featured Legal News Neuromodulation/Neurostimulation Abbott Nevro Corp. Personnel Moves Source Type: news