After months of speculation about its next move, Amazon.com has struck back at Wal-Mart with an exhaustive countersuit.
In papers filed in Washington Superior Court, the online bookseller alleges that Wal-Mart practiced unfair competition, violated the Washington Consumer Protection Act, interfered with prospective employees and engaged in libel, slander and business defamation. The company is seeking damages and court costs and to have the suit against it dropped.
In October, Wal-Mart filed a lawsuit against Amazon.com, charging the online bookseller with stealing trade secrets through its hiring of Wal-Mart employees and employees of Wal-Mart vendors. Drugstore.com, now an Amazon.com partner, was also named in the suit. (News, Oct. 26, 1998).
An Amazon.com spokesman declined to comment on the countersuit. According to the papers, the company recruited only a small number of Wal-Mart employees and did not attempt to steal trade secrets.
Deal with Dell.com
In an unrelated development, Amazon.com has announced a co-branding venture with Dell.com, the online arm of the computer manufacturer. Dell customers can now link to a customized page on Amazon, and vice versa.
