Opternative says online eye care company Warby Parker stole the startup's technology to launch its own at-home eye exam service.
Chicago-based Opternative is suing Warby Parker for breach of contract and theft of trade secrets, alleging that Warby Parker launched a competing version of Opternative's service that lets you renew contacts prescriptions from home using a computer screen, according to a lawsuit made public yesterday and first reported by TechCrunch.
Opternative is seeking financial compensation from Warby Parker.
The lawsuit states that Opternative and Warby Parker first had discussions in 2013 when Warby Parker reached out to the Chicago startup to talk about the "potential for a partnership." Warby Parker signed non-disclosure agreements, according to the suit, to not copy Opternative's proprietary information or "reverse engineer any Proprietary Information, or use any similar means to discover its underlying composition, structure, source code or trade secrets."
In 2015, the two companies discussed the potential for Warby Parker to acquire Opternative, and Warby Parker asked for more information around Opternative's technology and business, the suit states. Warby Parker "assured Opternative that it was not developing its own system" of online eye exams, Opternative alleges.
In June of 2015, Warby Parker filed a patent for online eye exam technology, the suit says. Warby Parker eventually launched its own competing “Prescription Check” feature in May of this year.
“We have spent countless hours, days, weeks and years pouring our hearts and minds into building Opternative’s intellectual property and making ocular telehealth accessible to more people,” Opternative Co-Founder Steven Lee told TechCrunch. “It is a huge disappointment that another company, which was in the startup category like us not too long ago, would take advantage of us for their own financial gain.”
Warby Parker said the suit is "preposterous" and "an unfortunate example of a company choosing to address competition with litigation instead of innovation," according to a spokesperson who provided a statement to Chicago Inno.
"Over the years, we’ve looked at many potential solutions, including Opternative’s test," the company said. "We gave Opternative the opportunity to demonstrate that its product could live up to the high standards of quality and service that customers have come to expect from Warby Parker. Ultimately, they failed to meet those standards, and we determined that the product and user experience were unfit for our customers. Opternative is now trying to correct those failures through meritless litigation."
Opternative head of U.S. Government Affairs Pete Horkan said in a phone call that Warby Parker knowingly violated Opternative's NDAs, and "used information that derived from these conversations, from correspondence with us to launch a competing offering."
Horkan declined to elaborate on the acquisition conversations between the two companies. He said Opternative is confident in the company's legal case.
Opternative has raised $9.5 million in funding from investors like Jump Capital, Tribeca Venture Partners, Pritzker Group Venture Capital and Chicago Ventures. The startup allows patients to take an eye exam from home and get a prescription for contacts or glasses sent to their email. Standing 12 feet away from a computer screen, patients use their smartphone as a remote to control the exam, with the computer acting as the eye chart. The person is asked to respond to a series of ophthalmological images, similar to a traditional exam. An ophthalmologist then reviews their answers and, if necessary, sends a prescription within 24 hours.
Warby Parker has until Nov. 6 to respond to Opternative's complaints.
