Paypal sues Google in 'trade secrets' row

Paypal, eBay's online payments company, has slapped Google with a lawsuit claiming the search engine giant stole its trade secrets ahead of the launch of its mobile payments system.

PayPal filed a suit against Google and two of its executives in a California court, saying legal action was the "only meaningful way" to protect its technology. The legal battle comes asexcitement around "wave and pay" technology on mobile phones is soaring. PayPal said it had spent the past year developing next-generation mobile payment technology for retailers.

Amanda Pires, PayPal's senior director of global communications , said "Sometimes the behaviours of people and competitors make legal action the only meaningful way for a company to protect one of its most valuable assets: its trade secrets."

Google rejected the allegations.