Apple Files Suit over Leaks About New Products

"Apple has filed a civil complaint against unnamed individuals who we believe stole our trade secrets and posted detailed information about an unannounced Apple product on the Internet," the company said in a statement. "Apple's DNA is innovation, and the protection of our trade secrets is crucial to our success."

Apple did not reveal details of the leaked information and has asked the Santa Clara Superior Court to seal some documents pertaining to the case. However, the claim does point to Mac rumor sites as the location to which the product information was leaked.

Suing John Doe

This is not the first time Apple has filed lawsuits against unnamed information leakers. Apple plans to amend the claim once it determines who has leaked the proprietary information.

Jupiter Research analyst Joe Wilcox told MacNewsWorld that Apple probably wanted to get the suit on record now as opposed to waiting until it discovered the identity of the defendant for strategic timing reasons.

Since the company seems to prefer to create anticipation and then make a splash at events like January's Macworld Expo at which CEO Steve Jobs typically reveals new products, analysts said moving forward with a lawsuit now makes sense.

"I'm sure that Apple is legitimately after leakers, but the timing could be intended to discourage rumor sites from publishing stories based on leaks about upcoming Macworld announcements," Wilcox said.

Leveraging the Rumor Mill

Analysts said while Apple is known for being secretive, it has nonetheless done a fair job of leveraging the rumor mills in recent months. Look no further than its quiet summer announcement about its dwindling supply of iMacs coupled with news that it would soon be launching a new iMac.

"Apple used the rumor sites to help it generate a buzz for its iMac G5 by announcing ahead of time a new model was coming out," Wilcox said. "People started buzzing about what the new product would be, whether it would have a new design and new features. Apple used that buzz to its advantage."

Still, unlike Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) , which lets the public know about new product developments far in advance in hopes that consumers will wait on its new offerings, Wilcox said that is not the way Apple prefers to do business and the lawsuit is evidence of that.

Rumor Sites Liable?

However, do these lawsuits deter gossipers from gossiping, leakers from leaking and the rumor sites from posting the gab? It's difficult to say, but Wilcox, for one, said he would think twice about posting such rumors in this climate.

Editors, he said, can often tell whether or not the information is leaked by investigating the source of the rumor. If the source provided documents, then the certainty of the information being leaked is unquestionable.

"Apple might actually intentionally leak false information to try to catch people now," Wilcox said. "If I were an editor of one of these rumor sites, I would not want to publish a story that turned out to be wrong. I would also be concerned about what impact it could have on me and my site because small sites don't have the resources to fight a big company like Apple."