Nagoya-based Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp. said Monday that multinational aerospace and transportation company Bombardier Inc. has sued it in the United States, stating that trade secrets had been passed on by former employees before beginning work for the Japanese company.
According to Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp. here, the suit was filed in Seattle on Friday with a federal court.
Bombardier is seeking monetary damages of an unspecified amount.
The Canadian firm is also seeking an injunction instructing Mitsubishi not to use "any proprietary Bombardier information misappropriated by any former Bombardier personnel."
The injunction goes on to say that Mitsubishi should refrain from recruiting its employees to obtain classified information.
Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp., for its part, has said the claims are baseless.
Owing to multiple delays on delivery of its Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ), Japan's first domestically produced airliner since Nihon Aircraft Manufacturing Corp.'s YS-11 turboprop planes went out of operation here in 1974, Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp. has been actively recruiting foreign engineers of veteran age and experience to speed up production.
Production of the sleek jet has also been plagued by rising costs and safety issues.
The company still feels confident, however, that the jet's narrow fuselage and fuel-efficient engines will see it become a viable competitor in its niche market.
The MRJ's are supposed to tap into the market for passenger jets with less than 100 seats, with the MRJ taking aim at the likes of Brazil's Embraer SA and Canada's Bombardier Inc. who both hold sway in their respective markets.
ANA Holdings Inc., one of the MRJ's first customers, has been told it will receive its order for the jet two years later than expected in 2020.
