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Amazon, Wal-Mart settle
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April 5, 1999: 2:44 p.m. ET
Discount chain ends suit vs. Amazon for alleged technology theft; no damages set
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Heading off a potentially nasty war between a cyberspace retail titan and "real world" retailing behemoth, Wal-Mart Inc. and Amazon.com said Monday they have settled a lawsuit alleging the Internet retailer had stolen trade secrets.
The settlement ends a lawsuit, filed last October, that focused on former Wal-Mart employees who took positions at Amazon and allegedly took distribution, warehousing and merchandising technology with them.
While few details of the settlement were revealed, the two companies said no damages will be paid, and that any Wal-Mart property held by former employees now working at Amazon.com will be returned.
Amazon and its drugstore.com affiliate will reassign some staff to jobs different from their assignments at Wal-Mart, the companies said.
Amazon spokesman Bill Curry said that only one employee of the nine that "Wal-Mart had concerns about" would be reassigned, and that he or she would be free to move to any job at Amazon after a year.
But he said Amazon "will make sure they aren't working in certain subject areas." He wouldn't specify what those positions were.
While providing few details, Wal-Mart said the settlement assures the confidentiality of its computer systems and business processes.
Web vs. "real world" retailer?
Analysts described the dispute as a battle between an established "bricks and mortar" retailer like Wal-Mart with an upstart Internet- based company that may someday be a threat.
"[Amazon] is a gnat compared to Wal-Mart," said BancBoston Robertson Stephens analyst Lauren Cooks Levitan. But she said Wal-Mart is "recognizing the potential large business that Amazon will represent."
Once just an online bookseller, Amazon has been increasing its presence in cyberspace in recent months, with its purchase of a stake in drugstore.com and inroads into a hot Internet auction business.
Wal-Mart sought to prevent Amazon.com from using its proprietary computer system technology. Amazon.com filed a counter suit Feb. 22, saying Wal-Mart was just trying to stop employees from leaving the company.
Amazon Chief Information Officer Richard Dalzell joined the online retailer two years ago after serving as Wal-Mart's vice president for information systems.
Dalzell and the venture capital firm Kleiner-Perkins Caulfield & Byers, which has a stake in Amazon and drugstore.com, also were part of the settlement.
Shares of Wal-Mart, a Dow component, added 3-3/16 to 96-7/16, while Seattle-based Amazon.com (AMZN) rose 10-1/4 to 181-1/4 at around 2:30 p.m. ET Monday. 
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