333 results for 'cat:"Trade Secrets"'.
J. Conrad grants a mortgage company’s renewed motion for preliminary injunction and request for finding of contempt against a similar lender in this ongoing trade secrets and unfair competition suit. The company’s first injunction was granted on Nov. 3, 2023, but the company presents convincing evidence that certain staff members of the lender continued to recruit the company’s workers to itself during litigation and after the injunction date. The company also offers sufficient evidence that the lender stole its confidential information in order to compete directly with it as well as to steal clients.
Court: USDC Western District of North Carolina, Judge: Conrad, Filed On: January 4, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv633, NOS: Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (DTSA) - Property Rights, Categories: Contempt, trade Secrets, Unfair Competition
J. Choudhury, ruling on a motion for reconsideration, finds the court did not err when it denied a rare coin and precious metals supplier’s motion for a temporary restraining order that sought to prohibit a competitor from soliciting its customers. The supplier fails to argue the competitor’s actions could not simply be compensable by money damages as established by legal precedent or that the competitor had obtained its customers’ information solely from its master customer list, not from other sources.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Choudhury, Filed On: January 2, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv6529, NOS: Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (DTSA) - Property Rights, Categories: trade Secrets, Restraining Order
J. Leahy finds the lower court properly determined an administrator, who is also the son of a shipping supply company owner, left the company, taking many of the company’s employees with him to start a competing company. The lower court properly found the employees in breach of contract, as they violated the terms of the non-compete agreement with the supply company, and found that many of the company’s documents were taken, including client lists and proprietary information. However, the lower court erred in accepting the supply company’s calculation of damages, as they were not properly compiled, and also erred in finding the employee’s actions were malicious. The matter is remanded for a re-assessment and calculation of damages. Affirmed in part.
Court: The Appellate Court of Maryland, Judge: Leahy, Filed On: December 22, 2023, Case #: 421, Categories: Antitrust, trade Secrets, Contract
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J. Gorton denies an artificial intelligence company and two former employees of an actuarial and consulting firm’s motion to file an amended answer and counterclaims after the actuarial and consulting firm sued them for misappropriation of trade secrets and patent infringement. The deadline for amendments is not going to be extended based on information found during discovery because the AI company and the former employees deferred discovery.
Court: USDC Massachusetts, Judge: Gorton, Filed On: December 22, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv10865, NOS: Patent - Property Rights, Categories: Patent, trade Secrets, Discovery
J. Leahy finds the lower court properly determined an administrator, who is also the son of a shipping supply company owner, left the company, taking many of the company’s employees with him to start a competing company. The lower court properly found the employees in breach of contract, as they violated the terms of the non-compete agreement with the supply company, and found that many of the company’s documents were taken, including client lists and proprietary information. However, the lower court erred in accepting the supply company’s calculation of damages, as they were not properly compiled, and also erred in finding the employee’s actions were malicious. The matter is remanded for a re-assessment and calculation of damages. Affirmed in part.
Court: The Appellate Court of Maryland, Judge: Leahy, Filed On: December 22, 2023, Case #: 421, Categories: Antitrust, trade Secrets, Contract
J. Mitchell partly grants a community information company's motion to leave to file a third amended complaint against a competitor. The community information company sufficiently showed that the competitor violated the parties' customer agreement by ordering information from it and reselling it at a higher price, in violation of its trade secrets.
Court: USDC Kansas, Judge: Mitchell, Filed On: December 19, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv2475, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: trade Secrets, Contract
J. Lin dismisses the chemical distribution company's Computer Fraud and Abuse Act claim in its complaint alleging that the former salespeople conspired to use the company's trade secrets for a new company and that they "permanently deleted" company emails even after the chemical distribution company ordered them not to. The chemical distribution company argues that the former salespeople violated a use restriction, which is an argument that both the 9th Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court rejected in similar cases.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Lin, Filed On: December 19, 2023, Case #: 2:23cv775, NOS: Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (DTSA) - Property Rights, Categories: Fraud, trade Secrets
J. Barbier grants a request by a Texas-based corporation to dismiss theft of trade secrets claims by a Louisiana based-HVAC goods and service business. The complaint does not explain exactly what actions or conduct by the Texas corporation could constitute egregious actions involving elements of fraud, misrepresentation, deception or other unethical conduct, which would violate Louisiana’s law against unfair trade practices. Instead, the HVAC business accuses it of stealing information about the design and production of its product without any supporting evidence, which is insufficient for a determination of whether the Texas company’s conduct was unfair and violative of public policy.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Barbier, Filed On: December 15, 2023, Case #: 2:23cv1669, NOS: Other Personal Property Damage - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Fraud, trade Secrets, Unfair Competition
J. Watson grants one of the motions to dismiss filed by a former employee, ruling the district court lacks jurisdiction over Robert Sapio because he has not traveled or communicated with any business in the state of Ohio such that it caused any harm to the parts distribution company. However, because the forum selection clause in each of the other employees' contracts is enforceable based on the distribution company's location in Ohio, the contract and trade secrets claims against those employees will proceed.
Court: USDC Southern District of Ohio, Judge: Watson, Filed On: December 14, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv4049, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: trade Secrets, Jurisdiction, Contract
J. Kim partially grants the sued spinal implant manufacturer’s motions in limine against the suing spinal implant manufacturer. This dispute over two competing “expandable cage” spinal implant products that perform the same function will go to jury trial in January 2024. The suing manufacturer accuses the defendant of stealing its design. The court, on the defendant’s motion, bars the suing manufacturer from producing “ambiguous, misleading or new evidence of alleged trade secret misappropriation,” as well as making other claims about the defendant’s product. The court will allow other controversial materials and topics, such as the actions of the defendant’s parent company, to be brought up at trial.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Kim, Filed On: December 11, 2023, Case #: 1:19cv7092, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: trade Secrets, Interference With Contract, Business Practices
J. Barker grants, in part, the metal processing company's motion for summary judgment, ruling that because its non-disclosure agreement with the processing equipment manufacturer unambiguously excludes any confidential information disclosed by the manufacturer during negotiations, including several of the trade secrets named in this lawsuit, the processing company cannot be held liable for a breach of the agreement.
Court: USDC Northern District of Ohio, Judge: Barker, Filed On: December 8, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv662, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: trade Secrets, Contract
J. Ellison grants, in part, a company's motion to dismiss a business owner's trade secrets claims related to novel hydrogen liquefaction technology. The business owner's tortious interference, unfair competition, breach of fiduciary duty and conspiracy claims are preempted by the Texas Uniform
Trade Secrets Act.
Court: USDC Southern District of Texas, Judge: Ellison, Filed On: December 5, 2023, Case #: 4:23cv1615 , NOS: Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (DTSA) - Property Rights, Categories: trade Secrets, Unfair Competition, Technology
J. Robart denies the biopharmaceutical company's motion to seal the Dana Berkowitz declaration related to its complaint accusing the multinational pharmaceutical company of taking credit for the biopharmaceutical company's development of a Covid-19 vaccine. The ingredients listed in the biopharmaceutical company's amended complaint are not trade secrets, and while it may redact information about confidential discussions or agreements with suppliers, the biopharmaceutical company is warned against attempting to redact entire document pages.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Robart, Filed On: December 5, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv334, NOS: Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (DTSA) - Property Rights, Categories: trade Secrets, Covid-19
J. Wicks grants a motion to disqualify an attorney from acting as defense counsel for a group of companies named in a civil lawsuit brought by a series of car dealerships that alleges an illegal racketeering scheme to setup a separate group of car dealerships by stealing the dealers’ funds, employees and trade secrets. The court finds the attorney is barred under the advocate-witness rule, as he is a necessary witness who will be called upon to provide testimony regarding acts of fraud that he allegedly committed in furtherance of the scheme.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Wicks, Filed On: December 1, 2023, Case #: 2:23cv6188, NOS: Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) - Other Suits, Categories: Fraud, trade Secrets, Racketeering
J. Rubin denies a former employee’s motion to dismiss in this lawsuit brought by a logistics company alleging a scheme to steal confidential trade secrets. The logistics company alleges when the employee provided his resignation he lied and failed to disclose information about his future employment. During the transition period is when the employee misrepresented by concealment the company’s confidential data causing material harm and damages.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Rubin, Filed On: November 28, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv242, NOS: Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (DTSA) - Property Rights, Categories: trade Secrets