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Mealey's Trade Secret

November 05, 2020
Huawei Sues DOJ For Responses To FOIA Requests Over Trade Secret Investigation

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Chinese technology firm Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. filed a complaint in District of Columbia federal court on Oct. 30 seeking to compel a group of federal government agencies to provide documents responsive to 12 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests seeking materials related to an investigation of criminal trade secret violations by Huawei by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) (Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., et al. v. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, et al., No. 20-3155, D. D.C.).
October 29, 2020
State, Federal Trade Secret Claims Allowed To Proceed In Misappropriation Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — A provider of web-based business software and information technology tools has sufficiently pleaded its state and federal trade secret law claims against an industry competitor alleged to have misappropriated the provider’s trade secrets to unfairly compete with it by properly identifying the trade secrets and showing how the defendant used them to compete with the plaintiff, a federal judge in California ruled Oct. 27 (Zoho Corp. Pvt. Ltd. v. Freshworks Inc., No. 20-1869, N.D. Calif., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 199917).
October 28, 2020
Startup’s Jurisdictional Claims In Trade Secret Dispute Deemed Insufficient

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A startup company that develops technology relating to the diagnosis and treatment of sleep apnea has failed to properly plead allegations establishing personal jurisdiction over two companies and three individuals it provided its confidential and trade secret information to as part of a nondisclosure agreement (NDA), a federal judge in California ruled Oct. 26 in granting the defendants’ motion to dismiss (Serenium Inc. v. Jason Zhou, et al., No. 20-2132, N.D. Calif., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 198947).
October 23, 2020
Majority Of Claims In Company’s Trade Secrets Suit Pass Muster, Judge Rules

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. — A federal judge in Arkansas on Oct. 2 ruled that a provider of services in the forest products industry has sufficiently stated a majority of its claims against a former employee alleged to have taken part in a scheme with others to steal the company’s confidential and trade secret information and use the information to form a competing company in violation of state and federal trade secrets law (Timber Automation LLC v. FiberPro LLC, et al., No. 20-6076, W.D. Ark., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 183560).
October 23, 2020
Discovery Stay In Trade Secret Misappropriation Suit Pending Appeal Denied

AKRON, Ohio — A federal judge in Ohio on Oct. 16 ruled that a defendant in a breach of contract and trade secret misappropriation lawsuit is not entitled to a stay of discovery proceedings pending appeal of a preliminary injunction ruling barring him from working for an industry competitor for two years because such relief is not needed, the defendant will not face any undue hardship and the stay benefits judicial economy (Seaman Corp. v. Edward V. Flaherty, No. 20-443, N.D. Ohio, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 192164).
October 23, 2020
BioPharma Company Sues Former Employees For Misappropriating Customer Data

MARIETTA, Ga. — A biopharmaceutical company that develops regenerative biologics using human placental allografts on Oct. 16 sued an industry competitor and seven former employees who left their employment with the plaintiff to work for the competitor in Georgia state court, alleging that the defendants breached the terms of two restrictive covenants and misappropriated proprietary customer information to improperly compete with the company (MiMedx Group Inc. v. Stimlabs LLC, et al., No. 20105766, Ga. Super., Cobb Co., 2020 Ga. Sup. Ct. Pleadings LEXIS 1304).
October 22, 2020
Trade Secret Misappropriation Claims Survive Dismissal Bid, Judge Rules

BOSTON — A federal judge in Massachusetts on Oct. 21 ruled that a manufacturer of motion control products and systems for automobiles has sufficiently stated its claims for trade secret misappropriation in violation of state, federal and common law because it sufficiently pleaded the existence of trade secrets that were allegedly misappropriated by a former business partner (Moog Inc. v. ClearMotion Inc., No. 19-12066, D. Mass., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 194913).
October 21, 2020
Trade Secret Suit Defendant Denied Coronavirus-Related Home Confinement

SAVANNAH, Ga. — A federal judge in Georgia on Oct. 19 denied a defendant’s request to serve the remaining term of his 70-month prison sentence for his role in a trade secret theft scheme in home confinement due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, ruling that such relief could be granted only by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) (United States v. Craig German, No. 19-cr-069, S.D. Ga., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 193097).
October 21, 2020
Company’s Expedited Discovery Request In Trade Secrets Suit Denied

RALEIGH, N.C. — A bioanalytical lab that specializes in large molecule bioanalysis has failed to show good cause why its request for expedited discovery in a breach of contract and trade secret misappropriation lawsuit should be granted, a North Carolina state court judge ruled Oct. 19 in denying the request (BioAgilytix Labs LLC, et al. v. Safa Alvandkouhi, et al., No. 20 CVS 10501, N.C. Super., Wake Co., 2020 NCBC LEXIS 125).
October 20, 2020
COMMENTARY: Conducting A Civil Jury Trial In COVID-19 Times

By John P. Katerndahl
October 20, 2020
Judge Awards Trade Secret Dispute Defendants Over $64,000 In Attorney Fees

NEW ORLEANS — Applying the 25 percent factor that he previously determined to “represent the scope of the fee award” defendants in a trade secret misappropriation lawsuit are entitled to recover, a federal judge in Louisiana on Oct. 15 awarded the defendants $64,070.95 in attorney fees, ruling that the amount awarded is adequate after adding several reductions to the lodestar amount the defendants had previously sought (Source Production & Equipment Co. Inc., et al. v. Kevin J. Schehr, et al., No. 16-17528, E.D. La., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 191606).
October 20, 2020
Judge Substantially Trims Claims In Experian Trade Secret Misappropriation Suit

SANTA ANA, Calif. — A federal judge in California on Oct. 15 ruled that a residence data analytics firm has failed to provide sufficient evidence showing that personal and credit data collectors Experian Information Solutions Inc. and Experian Services Corp. violated state and federal trade secret laws by using and misappropriating the firm’s trade secret information to develop a competing current expected credit losses (CECL) product.
October 19, 2020
9th Circuit Panel Reverses Summary Judgment Ruling In DTSA Suit

PASADENA, Calif. — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Oct. 15 overturned a federal district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of a defendant in a trade secret misappropriation lawsuit stemming from a failed software licensing agreement, ruling that genuine issues of material fact exist as to whether the plaintiff in the action had properly identified the trade secrets allegedly misappropriated with the requisite particularity (InteliClear LLC v. ETC Global Holdings Inc., No. 19-55862, 9th Cir., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 32542).
October 19, 2020
Federal Judge Dismisses DNA-Sequence Analysis Company’s Claim For UCL Damages

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A federal judge in California on Oct. 16 dismissed a genetic sequence analysis company’s claim for damages under California’s unfair competition law (UCL), trade secrets claim for exemplary damages and fees and fraud claim in a dispute against a former business partner but allowed the company’s claim for exemplary damages and attorney fees under the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) against certain defendants to proceed (Quintara Biosciences, Inc. v. Ruifeng Biztech Inc., et al., No. 20-04808, N.D. Calif., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 192419).
October 15, 2020
Warranty Company Obtains Injunction In Trade Secret Misappropriation Suit

DENVER — A federal judge in Colorado on Oct. 13 granted a real estate warranty provider’s motion for preliminary injunction in a breach of contract and trade secret misappropriation lawsuit, ruling that the plaintiff has sufficiently shown that it is likely to succeed on the merits of its claims and that it will suffer irreparable harm if such relief is not granted (Home Buyers Warranty Corp., et al. v. Debra Sue Gentry, et al., No. 20-395, D. Colo., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 189058).
October 14, 2020
Software Company: Former Employee Stole Trade Secrets To Form Competitor

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A software company that designs software-as-a-service platforms to businesses for the development of target direct mail campaigns sued its former executive vice president and an industry competitor in Ohio federal court on Sept. 29, alleging that the defendants misappropriated its trade secret information in an effort to develop a competing product and lure customers away from the company in violation of state and federal trade secret laws (NFocus Consulting Inc. v. Benjy Uhl, et al., No. 20-5106, S.D. Ohio).
October 09, 2020
Florida Panel Overturns Dismissal Of Production Company’s Trade Secrets Claim

MIAMI — A Florida trial court erred in dismissing a production and marketing company’s state law trade secret misappropriation claim against a cruise line because the cruise line failed to sufficiently show that the proprietary processes and techniques the company alleged the cruise line misappropriated were not protected trade secrets, a Florida appellate panel ruled Oct. 7 (Poet Theatricals Marine LLC, et al. v. Celebrity Cruises Inc., No. 3D19-26920, Fla. App., 3rd Dist., 2020 Fla. App. 14081).
October 06, 2020
Insurer: Competitor Violated Protocol, Misappropriated Policyholder Information

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — A provider of insurance products to senior citizens sued an industry competitor in Kansas federal court on Oct. 2, alleging that the competitor and the health insurance provider that acquired it violated state and federal trade secret laws when they violated the terms of a court-approved protocol, poached the plaintiffs' employees and encouraged them to misappropriate the insurer's confidential and trade secret policyholder information (Bankers Life and Casualty Co. v. American Senior Benefits LLC, et al., No. 20-2488, D. Kan.).
September 29, 2020
Judge Orders Preliminary Injunction; Insurer Seeks Dismissal Of Trade Secret Suit

LAS VEGAS — The same day a federal judge in Nevada granted a software provider's motion for a preliminary injunction against its insurer customer in a trade secret misappropriation dispute, the insurer on Sept. 23 moved to dismiss eight of the 11 claims brought against it (ImageKeeper LLC v. Wright National Flood Insurance Services LLC, No. 20-1470, D. Nev., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 175011).
September 25, 2020
Texas Federal Judge Won't Reconsider Patent Anticipation Ruling

HOUSTON — Two defendants on Sept. 23 failed to persuade a federal judge in Texas to revisit his February summary judgment holding that a header ring patent is not anticipated, when the judge denied a motion for reconsideration (Utex Industries Inc. v. Dr. Troy Wiegand, et al., No. 18-1254, S.D. Texas, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 174272).
September 25, 2020
Defendant In Tech Company's Trade Secret Suit Appeals $5.7M Damages Award

TAMPA, Fla. — A technology company's industry competitor on Sept. 4 appealed a Florida federal jury's award of $5.7 million in damages stemming from the defendant's alleged misappropriation of the company's trade secrets in developing competing systems that were nearly identical to those of the company (Financial Information Technologies Inc. v. iControl Systems USA LLC, No. 17-190, M.D. Fla.).
September 24, 2020
Former Cryptocurrency Exchange Employee Obtains Dismissal Of DTSA Claim

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California dismissed a cryptocurrency exchange's Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) claim against a former employee on Sept. 22, ruling that the exchange failed to sufficiently plead that the defendant actually misappropriated any confidential or trade secret information (Payward Inc. v. Nathan Peter Runyon, No. 20-2130, N.D. Calif., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 173907).
September 24, 2020
Court Lacks Necessary Jurisdiction Over Trade Secret Claims, Defendants Say

LAS VEGAS — A federal district court in Nevada lacks the necessary jurisdiction over a breach of contract and trade secret misappropriation lawsuit brought by an equipment rental company against a former outside sales representative and an industry competitor because neither of the defendants has the required connection to the forum state, the defendants argue in a Sept. 21 motion to dismiss (Ahern Rentals Inc. v. Samuel Eure, et al., No. 20-1680, D. Nev.).
September 23, 2020
Ex-Hemp Company CEO Sued Over Sale Of Secret Strain In Violation Of DTSA

EUGENE, Ore. — A joint owner of a failed hemp production manufacturing joint venture sued the failed business's former CEO in Oregon federal court on Sept. 21, alleging that the CEO and other related parties misappropriated and sold the failed company's trade secret hemp strain to a Canadian company in violation of the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) (Big Wuf Enterprises LLC, et al. v. Go Farm Hemp LLC, et al., No. 20-1634, D. Ore.).
September 23, 2020
Software Company Says Former Employee Raided Its Trade Secrets

GREENVILLE, S.C. — An insulin management software company's former senior executive violated state and federal trade secret laws by raiding the company of its confidential information and trade secrets pertaining to its pricing and contract details for all of its accounts and using this information to compete with his former employer after obtaining employment as CEO of its chief competitor, the company alleges in a Sept. 18 complaint filed in South Carolina federal court (Glytec LLC, et al. v. Raymie McFarland, et al., No. 20-3321, D. S.C.).