In February, somebody posted pictures of Apple Computer’s new cube-shaped
dual-processor G4 computer and the optical Apple Pro Mouse on the Internet. Now
that the products have been officially launched, Apple wants to know who leaked
these trade secrets and the company has filed a lawsuit against the still
unknown person(s). Apple said the images of yet-to-be-released products violated
the company's trade secrets and could have diminished sales of existing products
as consumers waited for the new products.
Both the Power Mac G4 Apple Pro Mouse were launched on July 19 at the
MacWorld trade show in New York. The images were published on February 18 on a
Web site devoted to Apple-related issues. The lawsuit seeks undetermined
damages. Apple is trying to identify the alleged culprits. The company believes
as many as 25 persons may have been involved. "We don’t know the true
names or the capacity of the defendants but we will amend the complaint if and
when it gets the information," said an Apple spokeswoman.