The Associated Press
Business Week

Laboratory testing products maker Celera Corp. said Monday it is suing a rival and a group of former employees, alleging they stole trade secrets and illegally took Celera customers and employees.

Celera said its Berkeley HeartLab business filed suit against Health Diagnostic Laboratory Inc., along with two past HeartLab employees, and five others who left HeartLab on Jan. 1. It alleges Health Diagnostic and the former workers misappropriated trade secrets and interfered with client relationships, and said their actions caused testing volume in the Southeast -- historically the business's strongest region -- to fall by 45 percent from last year.