Recent Decisions and Case Developments

Nanomech, Inc. v. Arunya Suresh
February 6, 2015 | United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
8th Circuit Finds Global Noncompete to be Overbroad

On February 6, the 8th Circuit released an opinion finding that a Global Noncompete Agreement was overbroad, and therefore unenforceable. Arunya Suresh began working at NanoMech in 2010, agreeing to the noncompete which was for two years following termination with or without cause, and would have prevented Suresh from working or consulting with any business that competes with NanoMech. The agreement did not state a geographic limitation, and so was presumably enforceable anywhere in the world.

Suresh left NanoMech in May 2012, stating she was going to pursue her doctorate degree. However, NanoMech discovered she had actually accepted a position as a chemist at competitor BASF. At the district court level, NanoMech was unsuccessful in obtaining an injunction against Suresh, and ultimately the 8th Circuit Court upheld the decision.

This sort of global noncompete is frowned upon by most courts, and will often not stand up to the three-part test used in Arkansas (but fairly typical elsewhere), that looks at 1) whether the employer has a valid interest to protect, 2) whether the geographical restriction is overly broad, and 3) whether the time limit imposed is reasonable. In this case, the court ruled the combination of the broad restriction on the things Suresh could not do, considered together with the complete lack of geographic limitation, renders the noncompete overbroad and unenforceable. In the court's words, the lack of geographic limitation was particularly oppressive because the agreement "prohibits her from working in any capacity for any business that competes with the company."

This decision is interesting since Arkansas affords trade secrets particularly strong protection. In fact, Arkansas has previously upheld certain global noncompetes, but as the court pointed out, the restrictions in those cases were far more narrowly tailored as to the prohibited conduct. In both cases discussed, the employees simply couldn't solicit clients with whom they had contact with while employed by their respective former employers. It was this very narrow limitation on what conduct they could not do do that the courts found to justify a lack of geographic limitation in the noncompete agreements.

Moncrief Oil International v. OAO Gazprom
February 5, 2015 | Texas District Court
Fake Evidence Leads to Dismissal with Prejudice

One month into a complex case involving energy production in post-Soviet Russia, Moncrief Oil International abruptly dropped its $1.37 billion lawsuit that included a trade secret misappropriation claim against Gazprom after the Fort Worth company was accused of producing a falsified key document in the case. The company’s lawsuit hinged upon the allegation it had shared with Gazprom the secret details of an LNG plant it wanted to build with Occidental Petroleum in Ingleside, Texas in 2004.

State District Judge Melody Wilkinson dismissed the case with prejudice at the request of attorneys representing Moncrief Oil, which was suing the Moscow-based energy company for backing out of a deal for rights to develop a natural gas field in Siberia. During the trial last week, a document prepared by an accountant at Moncrief Oil International was found to include a key error, making it impossible to continue with the case

By dismissing the case with prejudice, Wilkinson prevents Moncrief Oil from continuing with any lawsuit on the same claims. This case shows the necessity of following all rules, both ethical and procedural, whilst litigating such claimes.

TSG Finishing v. Bollinger
December 31, 2014 | Court of Appeals of North Carolina
Assignability of Non-Competes

The Court of Appeals of North Carolina overturned a trial court's ruling that an assigned non-compete was unenforceable.

TSG is a company that specializes in "fabric finishing," or the use of chemicals to effect the color and textures of various textiles. Former employee Bollinger had signed a non-compete agreement with TSG in 2007, and TSG subsequently filed for bankruptcy, and transferred its assets to a subsidiary corporation with a similar name. While Bollinger's job remained the same, he technically now worked for a different company, who had been assigned his employment contract including the non-compete agreement. When Bollinger decided to go work for American Custom Finishing, a competitor located just 5 miles down the road, TSG sued to enjoin him from doing so based on the non-compete agreement. The trial court, however, decided that the agreement was unenforceable, primarily because there was no explicit assignability clause in the non-compete, and the trial court found that a balancing of the equities weighed against enforcement.

The Appellate Court disagreed with the trial court's approach. The Court explained that the case relied on by the trial court, Hess v. Gebhard & Co., 808 A.2d 912 (PA 2002), was different from the present case in that the assignor and the assignee were basically strangers, while here the assignment was just part of a restructuring following a bankruptcy. Thus the non-compete is being enforced by TSG who is certainly not a "stranger to the original undertaking," as was the case in Hess, and so the requirement that there be an assignability clause is substantially relaxed. Further, the fact that Bollinger was given an annual raise of $1,300 and a signing bonus of $3,500 for signing the non-compete, and that he left abruptly after 27 years of service at TSG to work at a competitor 5 miles down the road, both weigh strongly in favor of enforcing the non-compete. While the trial court was persuaded by Bollinger's argument that he is unemployable outside the textile industry, and so enforcing the non-compete would be particularly burdensome on him, the Appellate Court was far less sympathetic.

ABB Turbo Systems, AG v. TurboUSA, Inc.
December 14, 2014 | United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
Surviving A Motion to Dismiss in Trade Secret Cases

The Federal Circuit held that the dismissal of a trade secrets complaint for failure to state a justiciable claim was not warranted solely because the misconduct allegedly involved a number of wrongdoers and began many years before the complaint was filed. Remanded for further proceedings, ABB Turbo Systems, AG v. TurboUSA, Inc., Case No. 2014-1356 (Fed. Cir., Dec. 17, 2014) ABB’s pleading alleged various actions the company took to protect its trade secrets.

The trial court inferred that ABB’s efforts to protect secrecy probably would be deemed insufficient but the federal circuit held that only “reasonable” care is required, and “the complaint stage is not well-suited to determining what precautions are reasonable in a given context.”

Seeking the best chance for surviving a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, a complaint which alleges the relevant facts as the pleader understands them, and which aligns those factual allegations with the operative legal principles as ABB seemingly did in this case, is recommended. On appeal, ABB’s pleading was found to satisfy those minimum standards. Going forward, the parties will have an opportunity to perform some discovery before the trial court decides whether further litigation would be futile. Stay tuned for developments.

In re Microbilt Corp.
December 10, 2014 | United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
Florida's Litigation Privilege Bars Misappropriation Claims Under the FUTSA

On December 10, the 3rd Circuit upheld a district court decision dismissing Microbilt Corporation's claims for misappropriation of trade secrets under the Florida Uniform Trade Secrets Act ("FUTSA"). Microbilt claimed that Gunster violated the FUTSA when they attached copies of invoices from customers of a Microbilt subsidiary as an exhibit in a complaint alleging breach of contract, filed in the Middle District of Florida.

On appeal, the 3rd Circuit explained that it is "well-settled under Florida law that the absolute litigation privilege applies to statements in pleadings filed with the court." Thus the court reasoned, foreign state exceptions to the privilege, relied on by Microbilt, are irrelevant to the case at present. Further, since the privilege is settled law, the court need not submit it as a certified question to Florida Supreme Court.

Cronimet Holdings, Inc. v. Keywell Metals, LLC
November 7, 2014 | N.D. Ill.
Common Law Misappropriation of Confidential Information Preempted Under ITSA Even if Information is Not A Statutory "Trade Secret"

The Northern District of Illinois held on November 7 that the Illinois Trade Secrets Act (ITSA) preempted the common law claims of misappropriation of confidential information, unfair competition, and unjust enrichment. The court additionally noted that such claims are preempted even if the information in question would not qualify as trade secrets under the Act.

Defendant Keywell Metals, LLC ("Keywell Metals") acquired the assets of Keywell, LLC ("Keywell"). Prior to the sale, Keywell had approached Plaintiff Cronimet Holdings Inc. ("Cronimet") with Cronimet as a potential purchaser of Keywell. Keywell and Cronimet entered into a Non-Disclosure Agreement ("NDA"), terms of which restricted Cronimet from hiring any Keywell employees it met during the negotiations for a period of 24 months.

Cronimet initiated this action against Keywell Metals, seeking a declaratory relief against enforcement of the employment restrictions and arguing that the acquisition extinguished the terms of the NDA. Keywell Metals responded with ten counterclaims including violation of the ITSA, misappropriation of confidential information, unfair competition and unjust enrichment. Cronimet moved for dismissal of the common law claims, arguing that the claims were preempted by the ITSA. Keywell Metals contended that the ITSA's preemption provision is inapplicable since the confidential information at issue does not rise to the level of a statutory trade secret. After reviewing its case law, the Court decided that common law claims that are "dependent on the existence of confidential information" are preempted by ITSA, even if such information does not meet the statutory definition of a trade secret.

U.S. v. Suibin Zhang
November 5, 2014 | United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Criminal Conviction Affirmed for Trade Secret Theft

Reminding all that misappropriating a trade secret can not only constitute a crime, but also that the intent to reap an economic benefit is sufficient to sustain a conviction under 18 USC Section 1832, the Ninth Circuit upheld the criminal conviction of Suibin Zhang for the theft of Marvell Semiconductor Inc.’s trade secrets.

After a bench trial, Zhang was found guilty and sentenced to three months in prison followed by three months of supervised release, 200 hours of community service, and $75,000 in restitution. Zhang appealed, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence and contending that his Sixth Amendment right to a public trial was violated.

On appeal, the Ninth Circuit held that there was, in fact, sufficient evidence, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Marvell took “reasonable measures” to protect its trade secrets. Marvell did so by advising users of the existence of their trade secrets and by limiting access on a need to know basis and controlled access through passwords. The Court also held that, although Zhang did not personally sign the Marvell non-disclosure agreement, he accepted a limited license agreement that incorporated its terms.

The Court further held that even though Zhang never sold the documents or sent around economically valuable secrets, sufficient evidence established that he intended to reap an economic reward. The Court held this same evidence established an intent to injure Marvell, enough to uphold the criminal conviction. Intent, this case, was key.

Cellular Accessories For Less, Inc. v. Trinitas LLC
November 5, 2014 | United States District Court Central District of California
LinkedIn Contacts May Be Trade Secrets

Operating under the California Uniform Trade Secrets Act, the Central District of California denied summary judgment in favor of the defendant and found that there was a material issue of fact regarding whether LinkedIn contacts that a former employee made while working for Cellular Accessories For Less (“Cellular”) are Cellular’s protectable trade secrets. The defendant argued that the LinkedIn contacts are not a trade secret because “Cellular encouraged its employees to create and use LinkedIn accounts, and [the defendant’s] LinkedIn contacts would have been ‘viewable to any other contact he has on LinkedIn.’” On the other hand, Plaintiff argued that the LinkedIn contacts are only available “to the degree that the user chooses to share it.”

The Central District found that the parties’ statements did not make it sufficiently clear whether and to what degree defendant’s LinkedIn contacts were public and if so, whether this was done with Cellular’s explicit or implicit permission. The court held that this dispute regarding the publicity of LinkedIn contacts was an issue of fact which a jury must decide.

For a primer on the development of social media and trade secrets click here.

Bianco v. Globus Medical, Inc.
October 27, 2014 | E.D. Texas, United States District Court
Medical Device Company Steals Doctor's Trade Secret - Now it Pays the Price

Medical Device Company Globus met with Dr. Bianco back in 2007 to tell them about his idea for a new device to be used as an interbody spacer. The spacers that existed at the time did not have the ability to expand and contract at the surgeon's will, and thus Dr. Bianco's innovation was to create a design that was capable of doing so. Globus told Dr. Bianco that they would let him know whether they wanted to pursue his invention, but after a short period, they told him they were not interested. In 2011, however, Dr. Bianco learned that they had pursued his idea, when Globus tried to sell one of their products employing the technology to Dr. Bianco.

Ultimately, the jury awarded over $4 million to Dr. Bianco for the theft of his Trade Secrets. No recovery would have been possible if not for the mutual NDA both parties had agreed to prior to their initial meeting. Followings the jury's award, Globus filed for a judgment as a matter of law, but Judge Bryson was unconvinced by Globus' numerous legal arguments, and denied the motion in a decision issued on October 27.

nClosures Inc. v. Block and Co. Inc.
October 22, 2014 | confidentiality agreements, trade secrets
7th Circuit Case Serves as a Reminder of Trade Secrets Best Practices

The 7th Circuit ruled in favor of Defendants Block and Company, Inc. on October 22, 2014 on the issue of breach of confidentiality agreement. The Court cited a previous 7th Circuit case which stated that in the 7th Circuit, courts "will enforce [confidentiality] agreements only when the information sought to be protect is actually confidential and reasonable efforts were made to keep it confidential." See Tax Track Sys. Corp. v. New Investor World, Inc., 478 F.3d 783, 787 (7th Cir.2007).

Since the Plaintiff nClosures Inc. did not make additional efforts to have individuals who access the designs at issue sign confidentiality agreements, keep the designs under lock and key, or store the designs on a limited-access computer, the Court found that nClosures did not engage in "reasonable steps" to protect the confidentiality of its designs. Therefore, the Court concluded that confidentiality agreement between nClosures and Block and Company is unenforceable as a matter of law.