Cadence vs. Avant! (A) Case Solution & Answer

This case is about STRATEGY & EXECUTION

PUBLICATION DATE: June 06, 2003

Cadence vs. Avant! (A) Case Solution

Cadence was one of the most sought after developer of electronic information automation software used in the computer-aided design of advanced circuits that are integrated. By the year 1991, four of the organization’s employees left it and formed a competitive business, ArcSys (later changed to Avant!). In 1994, a senior Cadence executive, Gerald Hsu, stepped down and joined Avant! This move began a series of legal disputes between the firms revolving around trade secret protection. Soon after the departure of Hsu, Avant! continued the practice of hiring Cadence’s workers, even those programmers who were crucial. Additionally, there was evidence that a few of these people stole some of the most precious source code of Cadence.
Cadence started legal actions, including criminal charges, against Avant! and some of its employees for violation of trade secret laws. It chronicles the highlights of the legal conflict, the marketplace battle between the companies, and the public relations struggle. Furthermore, it reasons by inquiring what the two CEOs should do in their specific positions. The fundamental problems are: what’s intellectual property, the way to protect intellectual property, and the best way to respond efficiently to sensed theft of intellectual property. Background on the industry and business is given.

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