Judge mulls Gartner case

A judge did not immediately rule on a Gartner Inc. motion to dismiss a closely followed lawsuit by a Silicon Valley company, which claims the Stamford-based company”™s “Magic Quadrant” system for recommending high-tech products is affected by unrelated business deals.

ZL Technologies, a San Jose, Calif.-based seller of email and file-archiving software, claims Gartner improperly allows Magic Quadrant placement decisions to be affected by the budget muscle of the largest vendors, giving short shrift to those that do not generate significant revenue for Gartner.

ZL is suing on grounds of defamation, trade libel, false advertising, unfair competition and negligent interference with prospective economic advantage.