SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard Co sued former Chief Executive Mark Hurd and asked a court to block him from joining Oracle Corp, saying his hiring by the rival technology firm puts HP's trade secrets "in peril."
ORACLE (ORCL.NQ) the world's third-largest software maker, named Hurd co-president and director on Monday, a month after he resigned from HP over expense account irregularities related to a female contractor.
Hurd's separation agreement from HP did not include a non-compete provision, which is generally unenforceable in California. But it did include a two-year confidentially pact.
In a civil complaint filed in Superior Court in Santa Clara County on Tuesday, HP said: "In his new positions, Hurd will be in a situation in which he cannot perform his duties for Oracle without necessarily using and disclosing HP's trade secrets and confidential information to others."
HP said if Hurd is allowed to go to Oracle it would "give Oracle a strategic advantage as to where to allocate or not allocate resources and exploit the knowledge of HP's strengths and weaknesses."
"Hurd cannot separate out HP's trade secrets and confidential information in performing his daily duties at Oracle," the complaint said.
Oracle, the world's third-largest software maker, is an important partner of HP as well as a rival. Oracle competes with HP in the server market, following Oracle's $5.6 billion purchase of Sun Microsystems, which closed earlier this year.
Hurd resigned from HP on August 6. HP said he filed inaccurate expense reports related to Jodie Fisher, a marketing contractor who worked for Hurd's office from 2007 through 2009. Although Fisher leveled allegations of sexual harassment at Hurd, HP found no harassment had occurred.
Shares of HP were down 1.1 percent at $39.90 on the New York Stock Exchange. Shares of Oracle were up 5.8 percent at $24.26.
(Reporting by Gabriel Madway; Editing by John Wallace and Richard Chang)
