XP Power mulls 'next steps' over $40m ruling

XP Power said it was considering its options after a US court confirmed it must pay $40m to rival Comet Group.

Comet filed a lawsuit against XP in California in September 2020 alleging "trade secret misappropriation". The court ruled in Comet’s favour in March this year, with the jury awarding the firm $20m in compensation and $20m in punitive damages, and on Monday XP said that a judgement released on Friday had confirmed the decision.

James Peters, chair of XP Power, said: "We are disappointed by the judgement and will consider our next steps promptly. XP Power has a strong future and while 2022 has been frustrating, the board has not lost sight of the group’s longer term prospects."

Potential steps include asking the judge to review the level of damages, the firm added.

XP Power, which designs and manufactures complex power controllers, has long insisted that there is no merit to the lawsuit, which concerns the radio frequency technology used by the controllers.

Comet, which is based in Bern, Switzerland, has not commented on the latest ruling. In March, however, it said the verdict "validates the uniqueness" of its work and that the "theft of trade secrets will not be tolerated".

XP Power said the damages were accounted for in guidance published with the August interim results, and that trading since then had improved from first half run rates.

It is due to provide a full update on the third quarter on 11 October.

Shares in XP Power were ahead nearly 2% at 1,696p as at 0845 BST.