Azul and Sun in legal tussle

Appliance maker Azul Systems is hitting back at server giant Sun Microsystems in a dispute over intellectual property.

Azul filed suit in California, saying Sun had made “unfounded allegations” including claims of patent infringement and misappropriation of trade secrets. It alleges that Sun had threatened litigation unless Azul gave it part-ownership of the company and paid fees and royalties.

“It’s not every day a small startup initiates litigation against a 400-pound gorilla,” said Stephen DeWitt, Azul chief executive. “We viewed this as a last resort.”

DeWitt contends that Sun was surprised at how quickly Azul had developed its products and had become increasingly hostile.

Sun and Azul have some interesting areas of crossover. Azul specialises in systems that accelerate Java transactions – Sun, of course, created Java. Also, DeWitt was the founder of another appliance maker, Cobalt Networks, that was sold to Sun in 2000 for about $2bn, despite it having just 300 staff.