Non-Compete and Trade Secrets News for the week ended March 17, 2017
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Trade Secrets Identification
The most difficult procedural issue in trade secrets cases involves when and how the plaintiff should disclose its trade secrets. Defendants frequently object to discovery until it has a specific itemization of the secrets the plaintiffs claims have been misappropriated. Courts have wide discretion to handle these types of disputes, and will do so on a case-by-case basis. A federal district court in Oregon, in the case of Quaiz v. Rockler Retail Group, Inc., No. 3:16-cv-1879, recently denied a defendant's motion to identify and stay discovery. As that case shows, the strength of an early-identification motion often is directly related to the allegations of the complaint. Here, the plaintiff gave more specificity than is often seen, confining the trade secret to a particular product and related designs. A copy of the opinion, which provides helpful analysis, is available here.
Trade Secrets Injunctions
The Georgia case of Pinnacle Agriculture Distribution, Inc. v. Mayo Fertilizer, No. 1:17-cv-29, deals with the scope of trade secrets injunctions. It illustrates that when plaintiffs present compelling evidence of misappropriation, a broader injunction may be in order. Here, an ex-employee of Pinnacle Agriculture had provided his new employer with his entire customer list and specific details about those customers, along with other information concerning Pinnacle's branch sales (including details on every product sold and profit margin for each sale). This is true smoking-gun evidence. Despite the lack of any non-compete, the court's injunction operated just like one. Both the employee and the new employer were barred from conducting business with Pinnacle's accounts. A copy of the injunction is available here.
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The San Francisco Business Times, along with many other outlets, reports this week on Google's attempt to stop Uber's self-driving car technology. Google's effort to enjoin Uber builds on its previous complaint, which I discussed last week. The new evidence Google submitted includes a damaging witness statement from the main individual defendant's former co-worker along with an expert witness.
In more trade secrets news, the Chicago Tribune this week published an article describing Motorola Solutions' suit against Hytera Communications. The trade secrets apparently pertain to Motorola's radio technology and involve more than 7,000 allegedly stolen files. Motorola sued under both the Defend Trade Secrets Act and the Illinois Trade Secrets Act. A copy of the Complaint is available here.
Finally, not sure really how to introduce this one, but Absorption Pharmaceuticals has claimed that Reckitt Benckiser, the maker of, um, K-Y lubricants, stole its trade secrets on a sexual performance enhancer. This claimed misappropriation arose out of the second most common factual scenario for theft: a purported business deal that fell apart. Absorption Pharmaceuticals is asking for an injunction to prohibit RB from selling Duration - a premature ejaculation spray. At the very least, it's a clever product name. A copy of the Complaint is available here.
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