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Mealey's Trade Secret

February 04, 2020
Most Defendants In DTSA Suit Subject To Specific Jurisdiction, Judge Rules

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A federal judge in California on Jan. 31 ruled that industrial refrigeration contractors have sufficiently shown that several defendants in a theft and misappropriation of trade secrets lawsuit engaged in actions to support a finding of specific jurisdiction in the action and not require the action to be transferred to another federal district court (Degree Mechanical Inc., et al. v. J.C. Welding LLC, et al., No. 19-5133, N.D. Calif., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16394).
February 03, 2020
Dismissal Of Company’s Trade Secret Law Claims In Amended Complaint Denied

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A printing and imaging provider has sufficiently amended its complaint to state claims for misappropriation of trade secrets in violation of state and federal law against several former employees and a competing company by stating with the required specificity what trade secrets the defendants are alleged to have misappropriated, a federal judge in California ruled Jan. 30 (Zoom Imaging Solutions Inc. v. Edward Roe, et al., No. 19-1544, E.D. Calif., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15933).
January 31, 2020
Hershey Sues Former Exec For Compensation After Alleged Trade Secret Theft

HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Hershey Co. sued a former executive in Pennsylvania federal court on Jan. 27, alleging that the defendant engaged in a scheme to steal some Hershey’s trade secrets and use those trade secrets while working for a competitor and has failed to repay Hershey money he owes the company under several contracts (The Hershey Co. v. Doug Behrens, No. 20-140, M.D. Pa.).
January 28, 2020
Renewed Preliminary Injunction In Franchiser’s Trade Secret Dispute Granted

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — A federal judge in Ohio on Jan. 27 granted a franchisor’s emergency renewed motion for preliminary injunction against franchisees who allegedly violated the terms of a franchise agreement and misappropriated the franchisor’s trade secrets when they opened a competing business, holding that the franchisor has sufficiently shown that all four factors considered in granting such relief have been met (Handel’s Enterprises Inc. v. Kenneth S. Schulenburg, et al., No. 18-508, N.D. Ohio, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1185).
January 28, 2020
Security, Bond In Trade Secret Suit Denied After Defendant Filed Late Motion

DETROIT — A federal judge in Michigan on Jan. 24 denied a defendant’s motion requesting security or bond in a breach of contract and trade secret misappropriation lawsuit filed by his former employer, ruling that the defendant failed to properly seek such relief during pleading on a motion for preliminary injunction or soon after (RGIS LLC v. Keith Gerdes, No. 19-11866, E.D. Mich., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11831).
January 24, 2020
Judge: Former Distributor Infringed On Trademark, Breached Contract

AKRON, Ohio — A federal judge in Ohio on Jan. 22 found that a former distributor breached a contract with Matco Tools Corp. following the termination of a distributorship agreement, infringed on Matco’s trademark and breached a promissory note (Matco Tools Corp. v. Cary G. Urquhart, No. 19-1009, N.D. Ohio, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10247).
January 24, 2020
Manufacturer’s Preliminary Injunction Request In Trade Secret Dispute Denied

MINNEAPOLIS — A quartz surface manufacturer failed to show that a preliminary injunction barring a former employee from working for an industry competitor during the pendency of a trade secret misappropriation and breach of contract lawsuit is warranted because the plaintiff has not shown that there is a substantial likelihood that it will succeed on the merits of its claims, a federal judge Minnesota ruled Jan. 23 (Cambria Co. LLC v. Adam Schumann, et al., No. 19-3145, D. Minn., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11373).
January 23, 2020
Magistrate: Counterclaims In Trade Secrets Dispute Should Be Dismissed

PITTSBURGH — A federal magistrate judge in Pennsylvania on Jan. 14 recommended dismissing counterclaims brought by a former employee of the maker of equipment for steel manufacturing, finding that the man lacked standing to bring a claim for tortious interference with business relationships and that claims for declaratory judgment with respect to two patents should be litigated in federal court in Indiana (New Berry Inc. v. Todd G. Smith, No. 18-CV-1024, W.D. Pa., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6510).
January 23, 2020
Unfair Competition Claim Found Not Preempted By Arizona Trade Secret Law

PHOENIX — A federal judge in Arizona on Jan. 22 ruled that dismissal of a software company’s unfair competition claim against an airline company in a lawsuit stemming from the defendant’s alleged breach of a nondisclosure agreement (NDA) during a request for proposal (RFP) process is unnecessary, rejecting the airline company’s argument that the claim is preempted by Arizona’s uniform trade secrets law (TLX Inc. v. JetBlue Airways Corp., No. 19-4734, D. Ariz., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10323).
January 23, 2020
Robotics Company Hits Business Partner With Trade Secret Misappropriation Suit

LOS ANGELES — A robotics technology company sued its former business partner in California federal court on Jan. 22, alleging that the defendant has misappropriated its trade secret information related to its autonomous robot technology in violation of the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) and breached the terms of a licensing agreement to which the parties entered to market and sell a water drone vehicle (Apium Inc. v. Aquabotix Technology Corp., No. 20-619, C.D. Calif.).
January 22, 2020
Judge Finds Application Developer’s Trade Secrets Suit Untimely

NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York on Jan. 16 awarded summary judgment to Bloomberg Finance L.P., Bloomberg L.P. and Bloomberg Inc. (collectively, Bloomberg) in a lawsuit brought by the developer of an application for assessing investor sentiments by analyzing social media posts under the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (DTSA), ruling that the action was barred by the one-year statute of limitations that was contained in a developer agreement executed by the parties in 2014 (iSentium LLC v. Bloomberg Finance L.P., et al., No. 17-cv-7601, S.D. N.Y., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7808).
January 14, 2020
9th Circuit Upholds Bankruptcy Court’s Ruling Over Trade Secrets Dispute

PASADENA, Calif. — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Jan. 9 affirmed a federal judge’s decision to uphold a bankruptcy court’s judgment in favor of Sotera Wireless Inc., holding that the court did not err when finding that a competing company’s marketing technique was not a trade secret and when awarding damages based on Sotera’s limited use of documents containing trade secrets (In re: Sotera Wireless Inc., No. 18-56331, 9th Cir., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 1011).
January 14, 2020
Bankers Sued Over Alleged Misappropriation Of Commercial Banking Information

ORLANDO, Fla. — A community bank and its parent company sued several former employees of the bank’s commercial banking division and an industry competitor in Florida federal court on Jan. 10, alleging that the defendants engaged in a scheme to misappropriate confidential customer information prior to a mass resignation and use that information to compete with the bank in violation of state and federal trade secret laws (Seacoast Banking Corp. of Florida, et al. v. Matthew Diemer, et al., No. 20-0057, M.D. Fla.).
January 14, 2020
Judge Declines To Extend, Expand Preliminary Injunction In Trade Secret Lawsuit

NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York on Jan. 6 denied a company operating in the expert network industry’s motion to extend a preliminary injunction and to expand the preliminary injunction’s scope in a trade secret misappropriation lawsuit stemming from an alleged scheme concocted by former employees of the company to misuse trade secrets they obtained while working for the company to form a competing company (ExpertConnect LLC v. Mayokia Fowler, et al., No. 18-4828, S.D. N.Y., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2360).
January 13, 2020
Advertising Network Trade Secret Complaint Dismissed As ‘Shotgun Pleading’

FORT MYERS, Fla. — A federal judge in Florida on Jan. 9 denied a motion to dismiss in an advertising network’s trade secret misappropriation lawsuit against a former employee and industry competitor as moot, ruling that the network’s complaint is a “classic shotgun pleading” (Spigot Inc., et al. v. Jeremy M. Hoggatt, et al., No. 18-764, M.D. Fla., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3552).
January 10, 2020
Mandamus Petition In Trade Secret Dispute Against Attorney Rejected

CINCINNATI — A Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Dec. 20 denied an emergency petition for writ of mandamus filed by a client of two law firms formerly worked at by an attorney who later filed a pair of lawsuits against the client, rejecting the client’s request that the panel compel a federal district court to vacate two orders it handed down and to compel the forensic imaging and search of the attorney’s computers and cellular phones pursuant to a suggested protocol (In re: FCA US LLC, No. 19-1923, 6th Cir., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 38167).
January 10, 2020
Trade Secret Misappropriation Lawsuit Transferred To ‘More Convenient’ Venue

HOUSTON — A federal judge in Texas on Dec. 20 ruled that all private factors weigh in favor of transfer of a trade secret misappropriation and breach of contract lawsuit brought by a provider of integrated industrial safety services to the petrochemical refining, pipeline and industrial sectors against a former employee to another division within the district (Total Safety, et al. v. Alicia Knox, No. 19-2718, S.D. Texas, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 220530).
January 10, 2020
Summary Judgment Ruling In Trade Secrets Dispute Upheld On Appellate Review

SEATTLE — In an unpublished opinion, a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Dec. 23 ruled that a federal district court judge did not err in granting a summary judgment motion in favor of defendants in a trade secret misappropriation lawsuit brought by a seller of steel and PVC piping and related accessories against a former sales representative and his wife but that the judge’s award of attorney fees to the defendants was improper (RJB Wholesale Inc. v. Jeffrey Castleberry, et al., No. 18-35916, 9th Cir., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 38232).
January 10, 2020
Judge Orders Forensic Inspection Of Laptop Connected To Trade Secret Suit

CHARLESTON, S.C. — A federal judge in South Carolina on Dec. 23 ruled that the owner and operator of a merchandise trade statistics database is entitled to inspect and copy a forensic image of a former consultant’s laptop computer as part of discovery in a breach of contract and trade secret misappropriation lawsuit (IHS Global Limited, et al. v. Trade Data Monitor LLC, et al., No. 18-1025, D. S.C., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 220327).
January 09, 2020
Sufficient Claims In Scanner Developer’s Trade Secret Suit Survive Dismissal Bid

BOSTON — A federal judge in Massachusetts on Jan. 7 ruled that a producer and seller of hand-held X-ray scanners used by law enforcement and security professionals sufficiently pleaded claims against a former employee and direct competitor in a breach of contract and trade secret misappropriation lawsuit alleging that the former employee misappropriated the company’s trade secrets for an imaging device to develop a competing product after leaving the company and forming the competing business (Viken Detection Corp. v. Videray Technologies Inc., et al., No. 19-10614, D. Mass. 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2138).
January 08, 2020
Injunction Properly Granted In Franchisor’s Trade Secret Suit, Judge Rules

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — A federal judge in Ohio on Jan. 6 declined to dissolve a preliminary injunction previously put in place in a franchisor’s breach of contract and trade secret misappropriation lawsuit against a franchisee and others, rejecting a defendant’s argument that the injunction was improvidently granted and that another judge failed to address issues surrounding the noncompetition provisions of the parties’ franchise agreement (Handel’s Enterprises Inc. v. Kenneth S. Schulenburg, et al., No. 18-508, N.D. Ohio, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1185).
January 07, 2020
Judge: Company Failed To Show That Target Customer Profiles Were Trade Secrets

SALT LAKE CITY — A federal judge in Utah on Jan. 2 ruled that dismissal of claims in a trade secret misappropriation and breach of contract lawsuit against the former marketing director of a cellular signal booster technology manufacturer and one of its industry competitors is necessary because the company failed to meet the required pleading standards in alleging that the defendants misappropriated confidential and proprietary target consumer profiles (Wilson Electronics LLC v. CellPhone-Mate Inc., et al., No. 18-78, D. Utah, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 769).
January 07, 2020
Cancer Treatment Device Maker Sues Competitor For Trade Secret Misappropriation

CONCORD, N.H. — A cancer treatment technology developer sued a competitor in New Hampshire federal court on Jan. 2, alleging that the competitor misappropriated the developer’s trade secret and patented information to develop a copycat medical device used in the treatment of diagnosis of cancer, in particular, advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (TheraBionic Inc. v. Autem Medical LLC, No. 20-02, D. N.H.).
January 03, 2020
Injunctive Relief Pending Appeal Denied In Mobile Application Trade Secret Suit

ORLANDO, Fla. — A federal judge in Florida on Dec. 30 rejected an automotive-related live call, email, chat and texting services provider’s motion for emergency injunction pending appeal of the denial of its motion for preliminary injunction in a trade secret misappropriation lawsuit, ruling that the plaintiff has not sufficiently shown that it will succeed on appeal (ActivEngage Inc. v. Todd L. Smith, No. 19-1638, M.D. Fla., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 222899).
January 03, 2020
Cleaning, Remediation Company Hits Former Employee With Trade Secret Suit

HOUSTON — An Italian operator of industrial cleaning, remediation and specialty chemicals business and its American subsidiary sued a former employee, direct competitor and others on Jan. 2 in Texas federal court, alleging that the defendants misappropriated their confidential and proprietary “online cleaning” technology to compete with the plaintiffs in violation of state and federal trade secret laws (ITW S.R.L., et al. v. Justin Weatherford, et al., No. 20-3, S.D. Texas).