NetApp Accuses former Exec of Stealing Trade secrets Before VAST Data Acquisition
NetApp filed a lawsuit in california superior court on November 17, 2025, alleging that former executive Sigurd Stefánsson and co-founder Björn Hrafnsson misappropriated trade secrets before selling their startup, Red Stapler, to VAST Data. The lawsuit claims Stefánsson and Hrafnsson began developing Red Stapler’s technology while still employed at NetApp and continued to draw salaries from the company they were allegedly planning to compete against.
Even more problematic, netapp discovered a “Red Stapler” GitHub repository indicating that Stefánsson and Hrafnsson actively designed and developed software for their startup while Stefánsson remained a NetApp employee.
Internal emails reveal the “redstapler-is” association existed on GitHub as early as June 16, 2025, eleven days before Stefánsson formally left NetApp on June 27, 2025.
The Ten-Week “Miracle”
Red Stapler officially incorporated on July 3, 2025, shortly after Stefánsson’s departure. The company operated in stealth mode with Stefánsson as CEO, alongside five former NetApp employees and one current employee – Hrafnsson, who stayed at NetApp until August 31, 2025, while also serving as Red Stapler’s second-largest shareholder.
Then came the surprise. On September 9, 2025, just ten weeks after incorporation, VAST Data, a direct NetApp competitor, acquired Red Stapler for an undisclosed sum.
VAST’s press release announcing the acquisition highlighted Stefánsson’s experience “competing against VAST” (while at NetApp) and the Red Stapler team’s “track record of designing and launching cloud-native services with leading hyperscalers.”
The acquisition’s key asset is reportedly Red Stapler’s “cloud control plane and service delivery platform” that would enable VAST to “burst seamlessly into public cloud environments.”
NetApp argues this is where the wrongdoing lies. The company invested years and tens of millions of dollars developing its Service Delivery Engine (SDE), an orchestration layer between hyperscalers and NetApp storage that performs the same function as Red Stapler’s product. The SDE allows users to manage their entire data estate from a hyperscaler’s native interface, integrating with any public cloud platform.
NetApp believes Red Stapler could not have developed competing technology in 10 weeks without using NetApp’s confidential and proprietary details.the timeline simply doesn’t support independent advancement.
Contractual Obligations
Stefánsson signed a Proprietary Information, Inventions, and Non-solicitation agreement (PIIA) before starting at NetApp, as required for all employees with access to sensitive information. This agreement was comprehensive:
- It prohibited disclosing or improperly using NetApp’s confidential and proprietary information during and after employment.
- It required Stefánsson to assign all inventions developed during his employment to NetApp.
- It mandated notifying NetApp of any inventions created within six months after employment ended.
- It barred soliciting NetApp employees and business partners.
NetApp asserts that Stefánsson violated all these provisions.
Even if Stefánsson and his team had independently developed Red Stapler’s technology in that short timeframe, the PIIA required him to inform netapp of the invention. NetApp states he never did.
Disappearing Act
After learning of the VAST acquisition in late October,NetApp sent Stefánsson a cease-and-desist letter,emphasizing the overlap between his NetApp role and his
