Aug. 30, 2021—Mitchell and Snap-on have filed a lawsuit against Autel, according to court documents. 

The suit alleges Autel improperly obtained and used proprietary diagnostic and repair information. 

“Autel does not have access to anywhere near the same level of real world repair information. Further, Autel has not invested the years of time and money that would be required to analyze and usefully categorize this repair information. Instead, Autel decided to steal the information from Snap-on and Mitchell 1,” the complaint reads. 

According to the complaint, Mitchell and Snap-on allege Autel obtained its data in three ways. First by “ circumventing the security measures” on its handheld diagnostics computers to spoof those devices and engage in “mass, automated downloads.” It also alleges Autel stole username and password data and improperly pulled large amounts of proprietary information through Mitchell 1’s ProDemand product. 

The lawsuit alleges violations of nine federal and state laws, including breach of contract, misappropriation of trade secrets, and circumvention of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

The court has issued a temporary order prohibiting Autel from accessing, directly or indirectly, Mitchell and Snap-on’s devices or associated data servers or software, or from disclosing or making use of any data or information obtained through those company’s products “including by making changes to Autel’s products or services derived from such data,” a report from Repairer Driven News said. 

The news was first reported by Repairer Driven News.