⚖️ Runlayer Sues Rippling Over Intellectual Property Theft
Startup Runlayer has accused HR giant Rippling of stealing trade secrets. According to the plaintiff, during a year-long pilot project, Rippling gained access to the source code and roadmap of their MCP gateway (Model Context Protocol gateway), which was then used to create a competing product. Rippling denies the allegations.
🌍 This case highlights the "build vs buy" risk during deep collaboration between startups and corporations.
👤 An important lesson on IP protection in the AI era. Watch your NDA terms so you don't become a "free R&D department" for a major player.
Source 1: https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/28/mcp-startup-runlayer-accuses-rippling-of-stealing-its-product-idea/ Source 2: https://www.jdjournal.com/2026/07/29/runlayer-sues-rippling-ai-trade-secrets-lawsuit/