Re: No surprise there...
A third party company even went so far as to research, design, build, & market a small device that intercepted the machine error codes so the operators could order the parts they'd need to do their own repairs. The icecream company sued that company for interfering with their business.
Not quite. It's the other way around- the third party is suing the franchisee and the company that makes and services the machines for breach of NDA, breach of contract, and trade secrets violations.
I never thought that industrial espionage would be found, in all places, an ice cream machine manufacturer.