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Mealey's Trade Secret

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).
November 04, 2022
Judge Denies Summary Judgment In Nicotine Pouch Makers’ Trade Secrets Dispute

LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge denied a motion for summary judgment filed in a trade secrets dispute between Swedish and American companies involved in manufacturing and selling nicotine pouches, concluding that the claims are not time-barred and that material facts in dispute preclude summary judgment.
October 17, 2022
Dismissal With Prejudice Stipulated In Insurer’s Unfair Competition Cases

NEW YORK — In identical Oct. 14 filings, the parties in related cases in which a New York federal judge previously concluded that an insurer’s “unauthorized use” of a rival’s financial data and business strategy for limiting large losses helped it secure a “competitively significant reinsurance contract” stipulated to dismissal of the cases with prejudice and without costs.
July 29, 2022
Judge Dissolves Writ Of Garnishment Against E&O Insurer In Trade Secret Dispute

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A federal judge in Florida held on July 28 that no coverage exists under a “Sponsored Insurance Agents Errors and Omissions Liability” insurance policy for a $552,677.61 judgment for misappropriation of trade secrets, dissolving a writ of garnishment brought against the insurer to collect on the judgment.
May 06, 2022
Judge Confirms $3M Award Against Chinese Company In Lightbulb Trade Secrets Row

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A North Carolina federal judge on May 4 granted a business’s petition to confirm an arbitral award worth more than $3 million against a Chinese LED light bulb manufacturer and its U.S. subsidiary despite new evidence showing that the tribunal calculated damages partly based on hypothetical lost royalties under a contract with a nonparty that was terminated before arbitration.
March 31, 2022
Preliminary Injunction Motion Partly Granted In Insurer’s Unfair Competition Cases

NEW YORK — Ruling on motions in related cases that allege misappropriation of confidential information and unfair competition, a New York federal judge on March 24 concluded in a memorandum order that an insurer’s “unauthorized use” of a rival’s financial data and business strategy for limiting large losses helped it secure a “competitively significant reinsurance contract.”
February 22, 2022
Judge Says UCL Claim In Stem Cell Case ‘Displaced’ By Trade Secrets Claim

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge on Feb. 21 dismissed a U.S. stem cell company’s counterclaim for violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) in a pending suit against a Canadian company and its affiliates because it was “displaced” by the company’s sufficiently pleaded state law claim for misappropriation of trade secrets.
February 10, 2022
6th Circuit Reverses Summary Judgment For Employer In Age Discrimination Claim

CINCINNATI — A former employee alleging age discrimination when his employer failed to hire him for a remote position satisfied the burden to show that there is enough evidence to create a dispute regarding age discrimination, a split Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held Jan. 24, reversing a district court’s grant of summary judgment to the former employer.
January 31, 2022
Editor’s Note

The journalists and staff of Mealey’s Litigation Reports are saddened by the passing of co-founder Michael P. Mealey. He was a respected member of the newsletter community, being named publisher of the year by the National Newsletter Association and president of the National Newsletter Association. Mike and Judy Mealey started Mealey Publications Inc. in 1984. As president, Mike grew the Mealey’s Litigation Report portfolio, introduced email news bulletins and electronic CD formats and launched a continuing legal education conference business. Mealey’s was sold to LexisNexis in 2000. We hope to carry on his journalistic curiosity and integrity in the titles we continue to publish today under his name.
November 11, 2021
Statutory Damages, Fees Unavailable In California Federal Copyright Row

SAN DIEGO — A federal judge in California on Nov. 9 granted several defendants summary judgment on a request by a virtual prototyping software company for statutory damages and attorney fees in connection with a claim for copyright infringement.
October 25, 2021
6th Circuit Won’t Rehear Chinese CEO And Company’s Bid To Compel Arbitration

CINCINNATI — The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Oct. 15 denied the petition of a Chinese CEO and his medical device company for rehearing en banc of their appeal seeking to stay an Ohio company’s trade secrets claims against them pending arbitration in China with the CEO’s other company.
September 27, 2021
Chinese CEO And Company Petition 6th Circuit To Rehear Bid To Compel Arbitration

CINCINNATI — A Chinese CEO and his medical device company on Sept. 24 petitioned the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals for rehearing en banc of their bid to stay an Ohio company’s trade secrets claims against them pending arbitration in China with the CEO’s other company, writing that the panel misapplied the test for equitable estoppel in arbitration contracts.
August 30, 2021
Split 6th Circuit Panel Says Chinese Nonsignatory Can’t Compel Arbitration

CINCINNATI — A Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals majority on Aug. 27 affirmed a district court’s denial of a Chinese CEO and his medical device company’s motion to stay an Ohio company’s trade secrets claims against them pending arbitration in China with the CEO’s other company and remanded the CEO’s agency argument to the district court, while a dissenting judge said the majority’s opinion is a “rewrite” of “pro-arbitration state laws.”