TechCrunch Sues Over Fusion Garage’s Joo Joo Tablet

By Dena Cassella Published December 11, 2009

Fusion Garage’s new tablet known as Joo Joo seems to have—dare we say—bad juju. Michael Arrington of TechCrunch has filed a federal lawsuit against Fusion Garage over the former CrunchPad, now currently called the Joo Joo tablet. The suit accuses Fusion Garage of fraud, misappropriation of business of business ideas and deceit. Arrington claims he designed the entire blueprint for the device.

“This was the first time I’ve ever filed a lawsuit, and it was certainly not the way I thought the whole CrunchPad project would end when I first wrote about the idea in July 2008,” Michael Arrington wrote on TechCrunch.

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Arrington also claims that the key intellectual and mechanical property is owned by Pegatron, the manufacturing arm of Asus. Apparently Fusion Garage is no longer working with Pegatron and hired out a new ODM to complete the tablet. Arrington says he wouldn’t be surprised if Fusion Garage gets hit with another suit from Pegatron.

The back and forth continues: Fusion Garage CEO Chandrasekar “Chandra” Rathakrishnan refuted Arrington’s claims and inisisted his company was the brain-power behind the tablet.

“The Joo Joo tablet – including the hardware and UI – was built and designed by Fusion Garage. We have been working on [this device] since February 2008,” Chandra told TG Daily.

The suit comes on the eve of the Joo Joo tablet’s release for pre-order, which starts at midnight. The JooJoo tablet is priced at $499.

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