Hooked was not rooked by Apple

In an era of increasing high-tech mergers and acquisitions and burgeoning lawsuits claiming theft of technology and intellectual property, companies must walk a tightrope between disclosure and protection of their intellectual property rights. A company also needs to balance its right to protect its confidential information against the California policy favoring employee mobility. Negotiations over an acquisition between a small startup company and a megacorporation illustrate some of the dangers inherent to those circumstances.

Keep Apple away to make engineers stay?

Hooked Media Group is a startup company that developed a recommendations app for mobile devices that gives users personalized suggestions for other apps they might like based on their usage patterns and similar data. In 2013, Apple expressed interest in acquiring Hooked, and representatives from each company met several times to explore a possible acquisition. Apple didn't sign any nondisclosure agreement, and it ultimately declined to acquire Hooked.

Hooked then suggested that Apple "buy" its technical staff, with Hooked retaining its advertising functions. Apple responded that it might consider paying a "finder's fee" for the engineering team, depending on "who would be coming over." In the end, Apple never paid Hooked a finder's fee or any compensation at all. Instead, it contacted two of the engineers directly and hired them.