PayPal Slams Lawsuit On Google Wallet Hours After Launch

Just hours after the launch of Google Wallet, it's facing a major lawsuit.  On-line banking giant PayPal is suing Google for allegedly using trade secrets gleaned from two ex-PayPal employees now working for Google.

Google Wallet is scheduled to launch this summer in the US, allowing customers to swipe their Android smartphones over terminals to make instant payments for goods and services.

Reuters reports that PayPal - owned by eBay - says the employees had "intimate knowledge" of the company's plans:

"The suit highlights the growing battle by a wide range of companies from traditional finance to Silicon Valley trying to take a major stake in what has been described as a $1 trillion opportunity in mobile payments. The mobile phone is seen as the digital personal wallet of the future.

The eBay suit said Bedier worked for nine years at PayPal, most recently serving as vice president of platform, mobile and new ventures. He joined Google on January 24 this year.

Tilenius was at eBay from 2001 to October 2009 and served as a consultant to the company until March 2010. The suit says Tilenius joined Google in February 2010 as vice president of e-commerce.

Bedier is accused in the suit of having "misappropriated PayPal trade secrets by disclosing them within Google and to major retailers."

The suit accused Tilenius of recruiting Bedier, thereby breaking a contractual agreement with eBay. It also claims Bedier attempted to recruit former colleagues still at PayPal."

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