Boeh Mannheim And J&J Settle "Spying" Dispute

Boehringer Mannheim and Johnson & Johnson have agreed to settle counterlaw suits alleging corporate spying. Terms of the out-of-court-settlement were not disclosed.

In June last year, BM had charged employees of J&J's Lifescan division with infiltrating company meetings, as well as stealing confidential documents and a prototype glucose monitor. Lifescan counter-sued in September, claiming that BM had hired detectives to pilfer secrets and that company employees posed as customers to get information on the devices. BM and Lifescan are competitors in the glucose monitor business. Both admitted to some of the charges. Lifescan admitted it did give awards for the best spies, as charged, while BM said two employees also did some spying. BM, however, insisted its spying was at a lower scale than J&J said.