Jury orders Bell Helicopter to pay $16 million to former supplier in a trade-secrets case

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — A Texas jury ordered Bell Helicopter Textron to pay $16 million to a California company that claims Bell gave proprietary information that the companies developed to a rival supplier of cockpit display systems.

The jury in state court in Fort Worth this week decided that Bell engaged in unfair competition, but it rejected Rogerson Aircraft Corp.’s claim that Bell stole trade secrets.

Bell, a Fort Worth-based unit of Textron Inc., did not respond to requests for comment.

According to its lawsuit, Rogerson made avionics and display systems for Bell helicopters for more than 25 years. It sued in 2017, seeking more than $100 million in damages. It claimed that Bell gave designs the two companies produced together to a third firm, which developed a replacement for Rogerson’s equipment.

Rogerson claimed that Bell was trying to avoid the need to get regulatory approval for new systems by labeling them replacements.