Update (Feb. 27, 10:20 pm UTC): This article has been updated to add that Jump Trading and Liam Heeger reached a settlement agreement.
Update (Jan. 27, 8:23 am UTC): This article has been updated to include a statement from Unto Labs.
Crypto firm Jump Trading has sued a former software engineer, accusing him of violating non-competition obligations and stealing intellectual property to help start a competing business.
In a Jan. 21 complaint filed in a Chicago federal court, Jump claimed its former employee, Liam Heeger, violated a non-compete obligation of his contract by running a “competitive business” that “directly competes with Jump.”
Jump said that Heeger worked as one of the lead software engineers on Firedancer, a “major blockchain project” at the firm, and helped analyze, design, write, and optimize blockchain code from February 2023 up until his resignation on Nov. 11, 2024.
In a Jan. 22 X post, under the handle Cantelopepeel, Heeger said he left Firedancer to found Unto Labs, which would work on creating a “next generation layer-1 blockchain.”
An Unto Labs spokesperson told Cointelegraph on Feb. 27 that Heeger and Jump Trading had reached a settlement agreement but did not immediately share further details. A day prior, the court agreed to drop the suit after a joint filing from Heeger and Jump Trading asked it to “dismiss all claims in this case with prejudice.”
Source: Liam Heeger
Jump claimed that Heeger “both developed and had considerable access to highly sensitive confidential and/or proprietary information, including knowledge and information on business plans and strategies, blockchain models, unreleased codebases, and software tools.”
“Jump’s ability to run its business profitably in the blockchain space depends on its ability to keep its intellectual property — including strategies, proprietary data, research, and technology — confidential,” it added.
Jump accused Heeger of starting work on the venture while still an employee and claimed he was “exploiting Jump’s confidential information, including “intellectual property he created while an employee of Jump, for the benefit of this new enterprise and to the detriment of Jump.”
The firm claimed Heeger secured $3 million in funding at a $50 million valuation within one month of his resignation and alleged he met with venture capital firms to raise funds for the new business at the Breakpoint conference in Singapore while still working for Jump.
Jump Trading has accused a former employee of violating non-competition obligations and stealing intellectual property. Source: PACER
Jump claimed Heeger revealed information to a former Jump college after his resignation and told his former supervisor that he would no longer comply with the non-competition agreement because he had moved to California, where the laws differ from Illinois.
Related: Jump Trading accused of crypto ‘pump and dump’ in game dev’s suit
The company asked the court to enforce the terms of the non-competition agreement for the contractually dictated two years and prevent anyone from working with Heeger on the new venture that might violate the terms.
Jump also asked to court to order Heeger to return any of the firm’s intellectual property he may still have.
Unto Labs denies allegations
In a statement sent to Cointelegraph, Unto Labs, the company Heeger founded, defended its founder and denied the allegations.
“Unto Labs, a company dedicated to building a next-generation layer-1 blockchain from the bottom up, has become aware of a lawsuit against one of our founders, Liam Heeger. The lawsuit, filed in the Northern District of Illinois, alleges that Liam has breached his noncompete agreement with a former employer through his work. Liam and Unto strongly deny these allegations and are confident in the integrity of our business practices,” the statement read.
A spokesperson for Unto Labs said the company remains committed to its mission despite the legal dispute.
“Our mission is to contribute to the growth and innovation of the crypto space while adhering to the values of decentralization and open-source software. While we respect the legal process, we believe the claims made against Liam are without merit. We are confident that we are building something entirely new and are excited to see where this project goes next.”
“Operations are continuing as usual, and the team remains committed to our missions and fully focused on advancing Unto’s vision,” the spokesperson added.
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