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Mealey's Trade Secret

  • May 30, 2023

    Judge Denies Certified Question, Says Parties Must Unwind AI Merger Software Sale

    COLUMBUS, Ohio — A company may rescind the sale of artificial intelligence software that analyzes mergers, acquisitions and other investments after prevailing on a fraudulent inducement claim, a federal judge in Ohio said after declining to certify a question to the Ohio Supreme Court.

  • May 26, 2023

    Parties Dispute TRO Bid In Suit Over Alleged Raid On Facultative Reinsurance Group

    CHICAGO — Plaintiffs who allege that a rival used a “well-established Playbook” to conduct an unlawful raid of their facultative reinsurance group asked an Illinois federal court to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO), and the defendants countered that “[t]he only emergency is likely [the plaintiffs’] desire to unlawfully stifle competition.”

  • April 28, 2023

    Judge Dismisses UCL Counterclaim In Fake Meat Makers’ Patent Dispute

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California federal judge granted a motion to dismiss multiple counterclaims including for violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) brought by a meat substitute maker against a rival company after finding the state law civil counterclaims based on the same basic facts as its claims for misappropriation of trade secrets in violation of the California Uniform Trade Secret Act (CUTSA) and therefore preempted.

  • April 24, 2023

    Oil Company Says Former CFO Stole Trade Secrets To Form Competing Firm

    DALLAS — An oil and gas company sued a competitor in Texas federal court contending that it was formed when former employees stole trade secrets to establish the company, which led to unjust enrichment and other actions that “crippled” the plaintiff by “unfairly misappropriating the years of time and millions of dollars that [the plaintiff] spent building its investor network and its business.”

  • April 24, 2023

    After Settlement Report, Reinsurance Broker Dismisses ‘Coordinated Raid’ Cases

    Reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter & Company LLC has voluntarily dismissed related suits in Texas and New York federal courts over what it had alleged was a “coordinated raid” that created “a mirror image business.”

  • April 19, 2023

    In Minnesota Trademark Row, Judge Sanctions ‘Contumacious’ Conduct

    MINNEAPOLIS — A trademark infringement and dilution plaintiff’s request for sanctions against a former licensee and his company was granted April 18 by a federal judge in Minnesota, who said the defendants “contumacious, repeated and dilatory conduct” warrants entry of a default judgment.

  • April 12, 2023

    Copyright, Trade Secret, Lanham Act Case Against TikTok To Remain In Texas

    WACO, Texas — Efforts by TikTok Inc. and others to transfer copyright infringement, trade secret and false advertising claims leveled against them to California federal court failed April 11, when a Texas federal magistrate judge said the defendants failed to show that a different venue would clearly be more convenient.

  • April 06, 2023

    Judge Says Factual Dispute Over Trade Secrets Exists In Fracking Chemicals Case

    DENVER — A federal judge in Colorado has partially dismissed a trade secrets lawsuit involving a company that sells chemicals to hydraulic fracturing operators, ruling that there is a factual dispute over whether the information in question is a protected trade secret.

  • March 20, 2023

    Korean Solar Panel Maker Accuses Calif. Companies Of UCL, Trade Secrets Violations

    SAN FRANCISCO — A Korean solar panel manufacturer filed suit in California federal court accusing two California-based solar panel companies of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and defamation, arguing that the court has jurisdiction despite a pending arbitration between the parties in Singapore because it says the California companies “initiated the Arbitration . . . to achieve the conspiratorial goal” of misappropriating its trade secrets for advanced solar technology and replacing it with cheaper suppliers.

  • March 14, 2023

    Motion To Strike Testimony Of Court-Appointed Code Expert Denied In Copyright Case

    LOS ANGELES — A federal judge in California denied a motion to exclude the report of the court-appointed source code expert in a copyright infringement and trade secret dispute, noting that the plaintiffs did not challenge the expert’s qualifications and, in fact, initially proposed him as an expert and rejecting their argument that his report is biased.

  • March 13, 2023

    Settlement Reported In Reinsurance Broker’s Suit Over ‘Coordinated Raid’

    Related suits in Texas and New York federal courts over what reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter & Company LLC alleged was a “coordinated raid” that created “a mirror image business” have been resolved via a confidential settlement agreement, the parties say in joint notices also seeking temporary stays.

  • March 09, 2023

    Cosmetics Trade Secrets Dispute Must Be Arbitrated In Belgium, Judge Says

    FORT WORTH, Texas — A Texas federal judge on March 8 granted a motion by two U.S. subsidiaries of a Swiss pharmaceutical company to dismiss a trade secrets lawsuit brought against them by a U.K. company based on forum non conveniens, finding that a dispute over whether the subsidiaries improperly sought Food and Drug Administration approval for a cosmetic product must be resolved by arbitration in Switzerland.

  • February 13, 2023

    Judge Dismisses Nicotine Pouch Makers’ Settled Trade Secrets Row

    LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge entered an order granting a joint stipulation by Swedish and American companies involved in a trade secrets and patent dispute over the manufacturing and selling of nicotine pouches to voluntarily dismiss two pending lawsuits between them with prejudice, with each party agreeing to bear its own attorney fees and costs.

  • February 07, 2023

    Pfizer Must Produce FBI Communications In Trade Secret Lawsuit

    NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Concluding that Pfizer Inc. did not establish that email and text communications between it and the Federal Bureau of Investigation were protected by either the attorney-client privilege or the work product doctrine, a Connecticut federal judge granted a motion to compel discovery of those documents to the defendants in a trade secret misappropriation lawsuit over the development of a diabetes treatment.

  • January 31, 2023

    Rival Nicotine Pouch Makers Settle Trade Secrets Dispute

    LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge recently wrote in a minute entry that two lawsuits pertaining to a trade secrets and patent dispute over the manufacturing and selling of nicotine pouches are resolved after the Swedish and American companies involved informed the court during a final pretrial conference that they have resolved all of their remaining disputes over the alleged misuse of trade secrets.

  • January 03, 2023

    Copyright, Trademark Claims Over Fudge Recipe Tossed In Pennsylvania

    PITTSBURGH — A federal magistrate judge in Pennsylvania ruled that although copyright and trademark infringement allegations by a fudge maker against his former wife fail, genuine issues of material fact preclude summary judgment on the question of whether reasonable measures were taken to protect a disputed fudge recipe.

  • January 03, 2023

    In Michigan Federal Trademark Row, Judge Allows Gibson Counterclaims

    GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — An answer by Gibson Brands Inc. that added counterclaims of trade secret misappropriation is permissible, a federal judge in Michigan ruled, because an amended complaint in the parties’ dispute over guitar designs added allegations of state and federal antitrust law.

  • November 29, 2022

    1st Circuit Reverses Ruling In CGL Insurer’s Favor In Trade Secrets Coverage Suit

    BOSTON — The First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed a lower federal court grant of summary judgment in favor of a commercial general liability insurer in an insured’s lawsuit seeking coverage for its defense of an underlying trade secrets lawsuit brought by a competitor, finding that the underlying complaint “fairly sketches a defamation claim” to trigger coverage.

  • November 11, 2022

    Plaintiff Has Standing For Patent, Not Copyright, Claims In Texas

    HOUSTON — A federal judge in Texas on Nov. 10 ruled that two plaintiffs are entitled to a preliminary injunction on their patent infringement and trade secret misappropriation claims but that their copyright infringement claims fail for lack of standing.

  • November 10, 2022

    Scrubs Maker Wants To Pursue UCL Claim Against Rival After Jury Awards No Damages

    LOS ANGELES — A medical apparel company that was awarded no damages by a jury after suing a rival company for allegedly taking its confidential data and using false marketing claims to net roughly $35 million in scrubs sales says in a status report that it wants a new trial and to continue pursuing its claim for violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL).