A jury in a Chicago U.S. District Court found Caterpillar Inc. guilty of stealing trade secrets from one of its suppliers, and awarded the supplier, Miller UK Ltd., about $74 million in damages on Friday.
The Cramlington, England,-based Miller accused Caterpillar of misusing its trade secrets to produce its own coupler for excavator buckets.
Miller grew rapidly after releasing its Bug-brand coupler in the late 1990s. The device allowed excavator operators to change attachments without getting out of their cabs. As the product became popular, Caterpillar became Miller’s biggest customer and insisted on access to confidential information about the design of the product, according to Miller’s suit.
Caterpillar denied the accusations, and a company spokeswoman said “We are considering our next steps in this litigation.”
Miller claims it expanded production capacity in England and added a joint-venture plant in China based on assurances that it would remain Caterpillar’s supplier of the couplers. In 2008, though, Caterpillar informed the British company that it was developing its own couplers and would phase out purchases from Miller, according to the suit.
