SuccessFactors and Halogen Software Announce Settlement of SuccessFactors' Unfair Competition Suit Against Halogen

^{Published on 2011-07-05 04:15:22 - Market Wire}
 

SuccessFactors and Halogen Software Announce Settlement of SuccessFactors' Unfair Competition Suit... -- SAN MATEO, Calif., July 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

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SAN MATEO, Calif., July 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- SuccessFactors, Inc. (NASDAQ: [ SFSF ]), the global leader in [ business ] execution software today announced the conclusion of SuccessFactors' litigation against its direct competitor, Halogen.  As part of the settlement, Halogen acknowledges that it engaged in false pretexting.  Specifically, Halogen manufactured a phony prospective customer, "The Magnus Group," to inappropriately obtain SuccessFactors' business information to learn about SuccessFactors' services and product features, product demonstrations, pricing, and sales processes.  In connection with the settlement, Halogen agreed to pay an undisclosed payment to SuccessFactors.  Halogen also agreed to allow entry of a permanent stipulated injunction, to destroy wrongfully obtained data, and to implement employee training along with new company guidelines to ensure that Halogen does not again engage in similar behavior.

"SuccessFactors has been extremely concerned about safeguarding its confidential information, so we're pleased to have successfully resolved this matter of nearly seven months," said Doug Dennerline, SuccessFactors' president.  "At SuccessFactors, we take extreme pride in winning the right way, within ethical and legal boundaries, so in addition to vindication, we were able to demonstrate a valuable lesson."

The legal dispute originated in early September 2010 when an alleged potential customer, "The Magnus Group," ended discussions with SuccessFactors after several weeks of contact and purported interest in SuccessFactors' products, pricing, and services.  By posing as a prospective customer and repeatedly expressing interest in purchasing SuccessFactors' product, an alleged representative of "The Magnus Group" received wrongfully obtained SuccessFactors' business information that SuccessFactors would never have disclosed to a competitor.

SuccessFactors learned that Halogen was the creator of the phony "Magnus Group" company.  SuccessFactors filed a lawsuit on December 2, 2010 against Halogen in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California (Case No. CV10-05471) for Intentional Interference with Prospective Economic Relations, Conversion, Fraud, and Unfair Competition.  On December 9, 2010, the parties stipulated to an order that Halogen was prohibited from using any of the files or information procured through its use of The Magnus Group.  As part of this settlement, Halogen agreed that the provisions of the stipulation would become permanent, as part of a stipulated judgment.

Dennerline continued, "We believe the market is the true winner here.  Customers want products that work from vendors they can trust."

About SuccessFactors, Inc.

SuccessFactors is the leading provider of cloud-based Business Execution (BizX) software solutions to organizations of all sizes, with more than 15 million users across multiple industries and geographies. We strive to delight our customers by delivering innovative solutions, a broad range of content, process expertise and best practices knowledge gained from serving our large and varied customer base.  Today, we have more than 3,200 customers in more than 168 countries using our application suite in 34 languages.

For more information, visit: [ http://www.successfactors.com ].

About Halogen Software

Halogen Software is recognized as a market leader by industry analysts and is strongly endorsed by the thousands of HR professionals who use their Talent Management solutions. The company offers a complete suite of web-based products that automate, simplify and integrate [ performance appraisals ], 360 degree feedback, compensation management, [ succession planning ], job descriptions and [ learning management ]. Halogen's offering makes HR best-practices accessible to companies of all sizes and its healthcare, education, manufacturing, public sector, hospitality, financial services and professional services specific suites meet the unique needs of these industries. Halogen is consistently recognized by the industry and its customers for its exceptional implementation and support services, and has won multiple awards for its corporate leadership and product innovation, including HR Technology Product of the Year. For more information, visit [ www.halogensoftware.com ]. Subscribe to Halogen Software's Employee Performance and Talent Management blog [ http://www.halogensoftware.com/blog/ ] or Follow Halogen Software on Twitter [ http://twitter.com/#%21/HalogenSoftware ].

Contact:
For media inquiries regarding SuccessFactors:
Andrea Meyer
+1.415.370.7329
[ ameyer@successfactors.com ]

For investor inquiries regarding SuccessFactors:
Karen Moran
+1.650.645.4439
[ kmoran@successfactors.com ]

For media inquiries regarding Halogen Software:
Connie Costigan
T: 613-270-1011 x 4334
E: [ ccostigan@halogensoftware.com ]

SOURCE SuccessFactors, Inc.

RELATED LINKS
[ http://www.successfactors.com ]
[ http://www.halogensoftware.com ]