***Story of the Issue
SGI Seals Suit Against Another 3D Company
(April 9)
The San Jose Mercury News reported on April 9 that SGI filed
suit against start-up ArtX a 3D start-up. The principals named
in the suit are Wei Yen, Tim Van Hook. The order was sealed
when filed on April 6 in Santa Clara County Court.
The newspaper reports that the suit charges "Yen, Van Hook and
ArtX with a series of violations including misappropriation of
trade secrets, unfair competition, breach of contract,
inducement of breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty,
usurpation of corporate opportunity and interference with
prospective economic advantage. Those are the kind of charges a
company makes when it thinks its employees are being raided,
when it thinks its business is being taken by someone with
intimate knowledge of the company's relationships or when it
thinks a former employee is violating non-compete or non-
disclosure agreements. Van Hook declined to comment about the
letters or the lawsuit."
Further, the San Jose Mercury news reports ‘ ''It's a Bill
Kelly special,'' ‘ one former SGI executive said, referring to
SGI's corporate senior VP who runs its legal affairs. ''He's a
nice guy but when he gets mad, he really gets mad.'' ArtX,
according to some familiar with the company, was formed to take
the Nintendo graphics design business away from SGI. Many of
those at ArtX, including Van Hook, had worked on the popular
Nintendo 64 games.
ArtX, Inc.
3400 Hillview Ave Bldg 5
Palo Alto, CA 94304
(650)842-8400
Wave Issue 9808 4/15/98 Article 2-01