July 18 (Bloomberg) -- Motorola Inc., the largest U.S. mobile-phone maker, sued a former executive now working for Apple Inc., accusing him of disclosing its trade secrets to aid in the marketing of Apple's iPhone.

Michael Fenger in March ended an almost six-year career at Motorola where he was a vice president for the company's mobile- device business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He is now Apple's vice president for global iPhone sales, according to a complaint filed yesterday in state court in Chicago.

``He was privy to the pricing, margins, customer initiatives, allocation of resources, product development, multiyear product, business and talent planning and strategies being used by Motorola,'' according to the complaint.

Apple introduced the newest version of its year-old iPhone wireless device on July 11, selling about 1 million of them in its debut weekend at a base price of $199.

While Apple has expanded its mobile-phone business, Motorola has lost market share, slipping from second place to third in global handset sales since last year. In March, the Schaumberg, Illinois-based company said it planned to split off its mobile-phone division, which has lost more than $1.5 billion since the start of 2007.

Fenger's employment by Apple violates his written promise not to work for a competitor for at least two years after leaving Motorola, the company said in the complaint. Motorola seeks a court order barring Fenger from working for Apple for two years beginning last March 31.

Options Agreement

Motorola also seeks to recoup more than $1 million for Fenger's alleged violation of company stock-option agreements.

Fenger couldn't be reached for comment.

Susan Lundgren, spokeswoman for Cupertino, California-based Apple, declined to comment. Apple isn't named as a defendant and no money is demanded from it in the suit.

AT&T Inc., the exclusive U.S. mobile-phone service provider for the iPhone today said customers who ordered the device might have to wait as long as three weeks to get one.

Filling orders for the new version of the handset, which can access the Internet at twice the speed of the original version, may take 10 to 21 days, AT&T spokesman Wes Warnock said today in a phone interview. He attributed the delay to ``strong demand'' for the handset.

While the $199 sales price means AT&T is selling the phone at a loss, the company has said it plans to recoup that money from subscribers over the life of a mandatory two-year service contract.

Apple fell $6.66, or 3.9 percent, to $165.15 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. Motorola rose 8 cents to $7.46 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.

Finland's Nokia Oyj is the world's biggest mobile-phone maker, followed by Samsung Electronics Co. of South Korea.

The case is Motorola Inc. v. Fenger, 08ch25742, Cook County, Illinois Circuit Court, Chancery Division at Chicago.

To contact the reporter on this story: Andrew Harris at the federal court in Chicago at aharris16@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: July 18, 2008 16:47 EDT