UBISOFT WINS FIRST ROUND OF COURT BATTLE WITH EA
First round of legal squabble between game publishers Electronic Arts (EA) and Ubisoft was won by latter but there appeared to be long battle ahead. Quebec Court of Appeal upheld injunction preventing former Ubisoft employees at Montreal studio that developed hit game Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell from working at EA’s new studio in same city. Ubisoft argued that 4 employees who worked on game had noncompetition clauses in their contracts that required them to wait one year before working for N. American competitor. Ubisoft spokeswoman said “the first hearing on the case happened last week” and “it looks like the case will go to court in February.”
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Ubisoft Divertissements Pres. Martin Tremblay said court decision wasn’t surprising: “We will continue to actively protect confidential information and intellectual property -- which is why we have invoked the noncompete clause that was signed by our former employees… For a company like ours, confidential information is of the utmost importance. It is, in fact, essential to our current and future successes. We will actively fight any attempts at extracting our trade secrets. We will continue to strive to uphold our rights, for the good of our company and its 700 employees.” Company said “noncompete clauses are common practice, notably in the new technology sector, where they are key to protecting confidential information and intellectual property.” Tremblay said: “The importance of noncompete clauses is being proven now, in the face of this attack orchestrated by Electronic Arts which has translated into the simultaneous departure of key personnel.”
EA fired back Wed., saying case was far from over. EA spokesman said “this was not the court’s final decision,” but rather “interim ruling on a motion filed by Ubisoft to force the 4 developers out of work until the court rules on the larger issue.” He said: “The court is currently reviewing the legitimacy of the noncompete clause Ubisoft puts in the contract of every employee, including testers. Contrary to what Ubisoft is telling the press and their employees, noncompete language is not standard in contracts in the game industry or in Canada. Outside of severance packages for owners of businesses we acquire, EA does not impose noncompetes on employees. EA has more than 1,000 people at our studio in British Columbia [and] none of them have noncompete language in their employment agreement. This isn’t about protection of intellectual property. This is about Ubisoft’s attempt to punish employees who want to develop their careers outside of the company.” He said Ubisoft was “also attempting to drive other developers out of Montreal.”
EA spokesman said that although his company now had only 7 employees in Montreal, publisher planned to boost staff there by 300-500 developers within 5 years.