KUALA LUMPUR – A lawsuit over the alleged misuse of trade secrets in Malaysia’s oilfield testing sector was withdrawn earlier this year, but court filings show a dispute between a global testing firm and its former staff over a proprietary water monitoring system known as the “Sidestream Application”.
The suit was filed at the Kuala Lumpur High Court by ITS Testing Services (M) Sdn Bhd, a Malaysian subsidiary of Intertek Group Plc, which has operated in the country for over five decades.
Named as defendants were DP Fluiteq Sdn Bhd and three former employees — Dev Menon Gopalan, Peter Chang Ngi Lee, and Murugan Selvaraj — who were accused of misusing confidential information after leaving the company to set up a competing firm.
In its statement of claim dated March 13 last year, ITS Testing Services alleged that the Sidestream Application was a proprietary system developed by the Intertek Group for water analysis and microbial monitoring in oil and gas operations.
The system, the company said, was designed to assess biofilm activity and microbiologically influenced corrosion using specially engineered devices and in-house testing methods.
“The devices used in the Sidestream Application would expose a metal surface, or biostud, to flowing process water to allow frequent sampling of sessile bacterial numbers without the need for system shutdown.
“Utilising Sidestream Application results, an accurate measurement of the efficiency and optimal concentrations of preventative chemical treatments can be made,” the statement of claim said.
ITS Testing Services claimed that the former employees, who had held senior technical and managerial roles, had access to confidential designs, pricing data, client lists, and test results — information allegedly used to replicate the system and offer competing services through DP Fluiteq, including to existing clients.
“Without the confidential information, expertise, skills and/or care gained from the plaintiff throughout their employment, the second to fourth defendants would not have been able to proffer services,” the claim stated.
The company further alleged that its internal information was used to secure contracts and develop services for the benefit of DP Fluiteq, amounting to a breach of fiduciary duty, breach of confidence, and unlawful interference with trade.
In their defence, the first and second defendants — DP Fluiteq and Dev Menon — denied the allegations through their legal representatives, Messrs S Ravenesan. They argued that the Sidestream Application was brought into Malaysia by the ITS Testing Services Country Line Manager.
Dev Menon further contended that ITS Testing Services did not disclose any confidential information to him, as such data fell under the purview of the Country Line Manager.
“Such information is widely available and accessible to professionals in the field through industry publications, training programmes, and practical experience.
“‘Sidestream’ is commonly used in the industry and does not, therefore, constitute proprietary or confidential information of the plaintiff.
“Sidestream refers to a device and testing method by which a sample from the mainstream is analysed via a separate stream,” the first and second defendants stated in court documents.
They further argued that ITS Testing Services was attempting to misuse confidentiality claims to unfairly restrict competition, relying on employment terms that were no longer in force, as the events in question occurred after Dev Menon had left the company.
They claimed the cited clauses — such as those requiring the protection of client information and restricting post-employment disclosure — amounted to an unlawful restraint of trade and were therefore void.
The suit was described as an attempt to impose unlawful restrictions on their continued work in the industry.
On April 10, the Kuala Lumpur High Court allowed the suit to be withdrawn on terms proposed by ITS Testing Services, with no liberty to file afresh.
ITS Testing Services was represented by Messrs W. J. Sia Law Chambers. The third and fourth defendants were represented by Messrs Roshan and Messrs T Tharuma & Associates, respectively. – July 12, 2025