JUNE 3, 2009 - Hilton Hotels is seeking a negotiated settlement in its corporate espionage case with Starwood rather than seeing the legal spat battle between two of the industry’s fiercest competitors aired in public, thereby avoiding further humiliation of its botched entry into the lifestyle hotel sector.

... Starwood said it in its complaint that the matter amounted to "the clearest imaginable case of corporate espionage, theft of trade secrets, unfair competition and computer fraud."