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Mealey's Trade Secret

February 18, 2020
Prosecutors Add Conspiracy Charges In Huawei Trade Secret Theft Lawsuit

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Government prosecutors in a criminal action against Chinese telecommunications equipment manufacturer Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. and certain of its subsidiaries and senior executives added two charges against several of the defendants to a superseding indictment filed on Feb. 13 in New York federal court (United States v. Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., et al., No. 18-457, E.D. N.Y.).
February 18, 2020
Illinois Jury Sides With Motorola In Trade Secret, Copyright Row

CHICAGO — In a verdict rendered Feb. 14 in Illinois federal court, Motorola Solutions Inc. was awarded $764.6 million in an intellectual property dispute with a Chinese firm accused of trade secret theft and copyright infringement; a docket entry in the case indicates that the jury found in favor of Motorola in full (Motorola Solutions Inc. v. Hytera Communications Corp., et al., No. 1:17-cv-01973, N.D. Ill.).
February 13, 2020
DTSA Claim Survives Dismissal With Allegations Of Ongoing Misappropriation

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A federal judge in Puerto Rico on Jan. 29 ruled that a diagnostic imaging systems manufacturer has sufficiently shown that although a third-party provider of maintenance and service for certain of the manufacturer’s equipment allegedly began misappropriating its trade secrets before the enactment date of the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA), the manufacturer has also shown that the alleged misappropriation is ongoing (Philips Medical Systems Puerto Rico Inc., et al v. Alpha Biomedical and Diagnostic Corp., et al., No. 19-1488, D. Puerto Rico, 2020 16351).
February 11, 2020
Court Lacks Jurisdiction Over Freight Broker’s Trade Secret Suit, Judge Rules

CINCINNATI — A federal judge in Ohio on Feb. 7 ruled that he lacks the necessary jurisdiction over claims in a trade secret misappropriation lawsuit brought by a freight brokering and third-party logistics services provider against a former employee because the forum-selection clause in the former employee’s employment agreement is overreaching while its choice-of-law provision does not favor enforcement (Total Quality Logistics LLC v. Daniel DeSantis, No. 18-0796, S.D. Ohio, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21299).
February 07, 2020
Former Tech Company Executive Found Not Guilty Of Trade Secret Theft

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A federal jury in California on Feb. 3 found a former executive of technology company Jawbone not guilty on six counts of theft of trade secrets on charges that she allegedly stole the trade secrets when she left her employment with the company and accepted a new position with rival Fitbit Inc. (United States v. Katherine Mogal, et al., No. 18-cr-0259, N.D. Calif.).
February 05, 2020
Tech Company’s Trade Secret Claim Gets 1 More Shot At Amendment

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A technology company and its acquired affiliate have again failed to sufficiently describe the trade secret information that its former employee and a third-party contractor allegedly misappropriated in violation of several agreements signed between the parties, a federal magistrate judge in California ruled Jan. 31 in dismissing the plaintiffs’ trade secret misappropriation claim with leave to amend (Calsoft Labs Inc., et al. v. Venikata Panchumarthi, et al., No. 19-4398, N.D. Calif., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17214).
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).