PayPal, Google Fire Salvos, Lawsuits Over Trade Secrets

Related: Google Reinvents the Wallet
Interactive Slideshow: New Electronic Payment Solutions Go Head-to-Head.

PayPal doesn't want to go around suing people. But it will if it has to.

That's the message from Amanda Pires, senior director, PayPal global communications, in a blog post published around the same time PayPal filed a lawsuit against Google alleging that in hiring away a couple of PayPal execs, the search giant also engaged in stealing trade secrets:

We spend a lot of time and energy creating the things that make PayPal unique and a preferred way to pay for almost 100 million people around the world. We treat PayPal's "secrets" seriously, and take it personally when someone else doesn’t. So we made a decision today. We filed a lawsuit against Google and two former colleagues who now work there, Osama Bedier and Stephanie Tilenius.

The lawsuit, filed the day after Google's May 26 Google Wallet announcement, is available online.

In response to the lawsuit, Google issued a statement of its own:

Silicon Valley was built on the ability of individuals to use their knowledge and expertise to seek better employment opportunities, an idea recognized by both California law and public policy. We respect trade secrets, and will defend ourselves against these claims.

PayPal offers electronic person-to-person payments either online or via mobile app, as well as other payments services and remote deposit capture. It uses Bump technology to provide a proximity-enabled P2P payments via iPhone. Google Wallet was introduced as an near field communications payments solution built in partnership between Google, MasterCard, Citibank, First Data and Sprint, that also incorporates merchant loyalty programs and coupons.