Ashton-Tate Settles Its Claims Against Migent, Ratliff

Ashton-Tate said Wednesday it had settled trade secrets litigation it initiated last year after its former chief scientist, C. Wayne Ratliff, teamed up with tiny Migent Corp. to compete against Ashton-Tate’s crucial dBASE line of software.

As part of the settlement of “all litigation and claims,” Migent dropped an antitrust suit it had filed in response against Ashton-Tate.

Ashton-Tate was propelled into the ranks of the Big Three makers of personal computer software makers on the strength of its dBASE line, from which it continues to derive most of its revenue. As a result, the company’s lawsuit accusing dBASE II author Ratliff of stealing trade secrets surprised PC industry observers.

Both sides declined to provide details of the settlement, or even to claim victory. But a source close to the case said that no cash had changed hands. “Basically, the terms of the settlement were: ‘We’ll walk away if you walk away,’ ” the source said.

Shipments Due Soon

The source said Ashton-Tate won some minor concessions on the timing of Migent’s new database software product, which carries the code name Emerald Bay.

Said Stanley Witkow, Ashton-Tate’s corporate counsel: “We are reasonably certain that (Emerald Bay) is a product that is independently developed.

The suit had accused Ratliff and others of “nefarious schemes” to raid Ashton-Tate personnel and steal trade secrets and technology.

Shipments of Emerald Bay are expected to begin by April or May--beating Ashton-Tate’s new dBASE IV, which is due out in July.

Migent declined comment. Ratliff, who sold rights to dBASE II to Ashton-Tate and led the in-house team that developed the firm’s dBASE III, said he was relieved to have the litigation behind him. “A lawsuit is an incredible amount of stress,” he said, also declining to provide settlement details.

The settlement announcement had little effect on the two companies’ stocks in over-the-counter trading Wednesday. Shares of Incline Village, Nev.,-based Migent were up 12.5 cents to $2.0625 while Torrance-based Ashton-Tate fell $1 to $29.

Emerald Bay and dBASE are database management programs. They allow users to store, sort, cross-reference and otherwise manipulate all types of computer data. They also incorporate sophisticated programming languages.

Ratliff’s bitter departure from Ashton-Tate followed repeated clashes with Edward M. Esber, chairman and chief executive, and fueled speculation that Ashton-Tate lacked the technological prowess to maintain its lead in the PC database market against heightened competition from IBM, among others.

‘Schoolyard Bully’

Earlier this year, Ashton-Tate and PC software leader Microsoft said they would jointly develop a new software product to manage databases on computer networks. Some analysts interpreted the alliance as a sign of Ashton-Tate’s technological weakness.

Observers noted Wednesday that although Ashton-Tate had failed to derail Emerald Bay, the Torrance software company had delayed Ratliff for several months by tying him up in litigation. “I compare Ashton-Tate to a schoolyard bully,” said Robert Byers, a Glendale software consultant who has worked for both Ashton-Tate and Migent.

Byers called Emerald Bay “a lot sleeker and more elegant” than the dBASE programs but added that it wouldn’t likely have much immediate impact on Ashton-Tate’s sales. “It’s going to be for people for whom dBASE isn’t doing the job,” he said.

As part of the settlement, Ashton Tate also dropped claims against former employees Carl Gritzmaker, David Patrick, John James and Gary Lang, some of whom work for Migent. Litigation between Ashton-Tate and Queue Corp. and Gary Belleisen is continuing.