Springshot, a startup that helped Spirit Airlines improve efficiency, claims Google may acquire its intellectual property through Spirit’s bankruptcy data auction. The company argues that the sale agreement lacks clarity on what data is being sold, potentially including proprietary information it owns.

Kreuzkamp, founder of Springshot, said the company powered Spirit’s technology stack for three years without receiving notice of the auction.

Springshot filed a limited objection last month, stating that the sale agreement vaguely references data categories that could include its intellectual property. The company argued that the definition does not differentiate between data it owns and data that Spirit actually owns.

Springshot urged the court to pause the sale until a forensic process confirms that none of the data Google is acquiring belongs to third parties.

Google’s spokesperson declined to comment on the objections, stating that the company acquired part of an enterprise dataset from Spirit Airlines. The spokesperson said that no personal information would be included in the dataset.

However, Springshot fears that the data could be used to create a rival product, given Google’s recent interest in operationalizing its own AI platform for airline operations.

Kreuzkamp warned that bankruptcy courts are not equipped to handle the complexities of digital assets, which could lead to the misappropriation of IP. He argued that if startups spend years developing technology, that IP should not be lost due to a customer’s bankruptcy.

Springshot and other vendors are seeking court intervention to ensure proprietary data is segregated before the sale proceeds.

The court is set to hear objections to the sale on September 16. In addition to vendors, unions and groups representing former Spirit employees have joined flight attendants in opposing the sale, citing fears of public harm. The case highlights growing concerns about how bankruptcy proceedings may be used to transfer valuable data to large corporations without proper safeguards.

Source: arstechnica