• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe

MassDevice

The Medical Device Business Journal — Medical Device News & Articles | MassDevice

  • Latest News
  • Technologies
    • Artificial Intelligence (AI)
    • Cardiovascular
    • Orthopedics
    • Neurological
    • Diabetes
    • Surgical Robotics
  • Business & Finance
    • Wall Street Beat
    • Earnings Reports
    • Funding Roundup
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Initial Public Offering (IPO)
    • Legal News
    • Personnel Moves
    • Medtech 100 Stock Index
  • Regulatory & Compliance
    • Food & Drug Administration (FDA)
    • Recalls
    • 510(k)
    • Pre-Market Approval (PMA)
    • MDSAP
    • Clinical Trials
  • Special Content
    • Special Reports
    • In-Depth Coverage
    • DeviceTalks
  • Podcasts
    • MassDevice Fast Five
    • DeviceTalks Weekly
    • OEM Talks
      • AbbottTalks
      • Boston ScientificTalks
      • DeviceTalks AI
      • IntuitiveTalks
      • MedtechWOMEN Talks
      • MedtronicTalks
      • Neuro Innovation Talks
      • Ortho Innovation Talks
      • Structural Heart Talks
      • StrykerTalks
  • Resources
    • About MassDevice
    • DeviceTalks
    • Newsletter Signup
    • Leadership in Medtech
    • Manufacturers & Suppliers Search
    • MedTech100 Index
    • Videos
    • Webinars
    • Whitepapers
    • Voices
Home » Abbott alleges ex-marketing exec lifted its neuromod marketing playbook

Abbott alleges ex-marketing exec lifted its neuromod marketing playbook

October 18, 2018 By Brad Perriello

AbbottAbbott (NYSE:ABT) this week accused a former marketing executive of purloining the marketing playbook for its neuromodulation business on his way out the door to a marketing job at competitor Nevro Corp. (NYSE:NVRO).

In a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for Northern Illinois, Abbott alleged that former neuromodulation global marketing product manager Blayne Fleck was instrumental in crafting the Chicago-area company’s marketing and global expansion plans.

On Oct. 3, just a week after the plan was finalized, according to the Oct. 15 complaint, Fleck tendered his resignation and said he’d accepted a job at neuromod rival Nevro.

“Fleck was intimately involved in the development of highly proprietary and confidential strategic plans – Abbott’s proverbial 2019 ‘playbook’ – directed specifically to chronic pain therapies, the use of which by a competitor would be devastating for Abbott’s business,” the company said in the suit. “Because Fleck led the team that developed the 2019 marketing plan just a few weeks ago, he knows Abbott’s strategic objectives and its plan for achieving them, regardless of whether he retained a physical copy of the plan.”

The lawsuit charges Fleck with one count of breach of contract and a count each under the Defend Trade Secrets Act and the Illinois Defend Trade Secrets Act.

In a separate filing, Abbott also sought a temporary restraining order, barring Fleck from taking the Nevro job for a year, and a preliminary injunction to protect its trade secrets.

If Nevro, through Fleck, learns, or benefits from, Abbott’s 2019 Marketing Plan or 2019 Geographic Expansion Plan, it will be impossible to unring that bell,” Abbott argued. “If Fleck wants to leave Abbott, he can use his marketing skillset and expertise to work in any role, for any company, anywhere in the world, that does not compete with Abbott in the chronic pain therapies market. It is no accident that he chose Nevro, one of Abbott’s three major competitors in the market, and a struggling company that would benefit immensely from learning Abbott’s 2019 playbook.” [emphasis theirs]

Filed Under: Featured, Legal News, Neuromodulation/Neurostimulation Tagged With: Abbott, Nevro Corp., Personnel Moves

More recent news

  • Medtronic reports first patient treated in study of multi-organ denervation for hypertension
  • Baxter turns to an automation company for its new CEO
  • Pristine Surgical appoints new CFO
  • Boston Scientific wins expanded FDA nod for Farapulse PFA
  • FDA warns on issue with J&J Abiomed pump controllers related to 3 deaths

Primary Sidebar

“md
EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND STAY CONNECTED
Get the latest med device regulatory, business and technology news.

DeviceTalks Weekly

See More >

MEDTECH 100 Stock INDEX

Medtech 100 logo
Market Summary > Current Price
The MedTech 100 is a financial index calculated using the BIG100 companies covered in Medical Design and Outsourcing.
MDO ad

Footer

MASSDEVICE MEDICAL NETWORK

DeviceTalks
Drug Delivery Business News
Medical Design & Outsourcing
Medical Tubing + Extrusion
Drug Discovery & Development
Pharmaceutical Processing World
MedTech 100 Index
R&D World
Medical Design Sourcing

DeviceTalks Webinars, Podcasts, & Discussions

Attend our Monthly Webinars
Listen to our Weekly Podcasts
Join our DeviceTalks Tuesdays Discussion

MASSDEVICE

Subscribe to MassDevice E-Newsletter
Advertise with us
About
Contact us

Copyright © 2025 · WTWH Media LLC and its licensors. All rights reserved.
The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media.

Privacy Policy