Bloomberg loses in attempt to get analyst call case dismissed

Bloomberg LP lost a bid to dismiss a lawsuit by Swatch Group AG that accused the news service of secretly recording an earnings conference call with securities analysts and giving a transcript to clients.

Moira Herbst of Reuters writes, “Swatch accused Bloomberg of tapping into its Feb. 8 earnings call and providing a transcript that day to online subscribers, without permission in both cases.

“The world’s largest watchmaker said this occurred after it told listeners at the beginning of the call not to record it for publication or broadcast.

“Swatch sought a court order directing Bloomberg to destroy its copies of the recording and transcript, as well as damages and other remedies for alleged ‘willful’ infringement.

“Bloomberg countered that Swatch had an obligation to be transparent and disclose financial performance information to everyone rather than select analysts.”

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