Facebook accused of plagiarism data centers

The British engineering firm BladeRoom Group (BRG), which specializes in the design and construction of modular data centers, filed a claim (pdf) on Facebook. Among other things, the defendant is accused of stealing the design of a data center in Swedish Luleå - a very stylish data center that Facebook opened in 2013 .

The Facebook company not only stole the workings of British engineers (for this they were first invited to negotiate, during which they fished out information), but also opened them to the whole world, giving out their own . Facebook has allowed anyone to use these developments as part of the open architecture project Open Compute Project .
“Facebook simply stole the BRG methodology and passed it off as its own,” said the statement of claim. “BRG spent years developing and honing the modular, modular design, as well as the technical processes of transportation and construction, which Facebook blithely transmitted to the world in 2014.”

BladeRoom Group Claim

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BladeRoom Group claims that Facebook simply stole the BRG Methodology document and issued it as its own. Some of the BRG ideas were implemented by Facebook during the construction of a Swedish data center in Luleå and declassified in the public blog of the project Open Compute Project.

The British company focuses not only on the theft of trade secrets, but also on copyright infringement, because Facebook gave these ideas as its own. She did not make "any attempts to ascribe or mention the merits of BRG for any elements of the innovative new approach" in the construction of data centers. Instead, Facebook said it was she who developed this innovative approach.


Facebook data center in Luleå, Sweden. Photo from the photo album of the data center from its page on the social network

BladeRoom Group says it owns intellectual property rights and trade secrets to "critical modular buildings with complex mechanical and electrical components." Among these buildings are industrial kitchens, hospitals, theaters, “clean rooms” (high-purity, pressurized / dust-free rooms) and data centers.


Facebook data center in Luleå, Sweden. November 7, 2014. Photo from the photo album of the data center from its page on the social network

The case is currently considering the District Court of Northern California. The statement of claim was filed on March 23, 2015 and preliminary hearings continued until February 2017. In the end, on February 10, 2017, the preliminary decision was published (pdf) . Documents on the case are published in open access in an edited form - the details have been removed from the case, which the claimant considers to be its trade secrets.

According to the results of the preliminary hearings, a judge in the District Court of Northern California concluded that Facebook’s actions can indeed be classified as a violation of the California Trade Secrets Act (California Uniform Trade Secrets Act).

Northern California District Court Decision


BRG claims that Facebook tricked BRG representatives into negotiating the construction of a data center in 2012 by deception. Under the pretext of a possible contract, they extorted trade secrets from BRG and then turned off the negotiations, using the information they received about BRG modular technologies. In turn, representatives of Facebook argue that BRG has not made enough effort to protect its so-called "secrets" technology BladeRoom. Thus, the issuance of these secrets can be considered voluntary disclosure by the BRG.


Construction of a data center in Luleå, September 2, 2014

The judge acknowledged that Facebook’s “voluntary disclosure” theory may indeed be fair, depending on the outcome of the investigation, what specific information was transmitted and how it happened. However, the judge sided with the plaintiff in that BRG’s efforts to protect intellectual property were sufficient in the circumstances, and therefore rejected Facebook’s request to close the process.


Even the technical instructions for the data center employees are stylishly decorated. Photo from the photo album of the data center from its page on the social network

The BRG vs Facebook case will continue. The parties must provide additional information that will allow to establish or disprove the fact of extorting trade secrets from BRG during the negotiations before the failed transaction.

BladeRoom Group, a design firm, requires Facebook to pay damages for breach of contract, breach of trust and misappropriation of trade secrets.