Continuing our series on electric vehicle (EV) trade secret litigations, a federal judge has overturned a jury’s verdict awarding $71 million to Zunum Aero, Inc. for The Boeing Company’s violation of the Washington Trade Secrets Act. Despite the jury’s multi-million-dollar verdict, the judge granted judgment as a matter of law
litigation
EV Trade Secrets Litigation Series: Tesla v. Rivian – A High-Stakes Legal Showdown
The Critical Role of Trade Secrets in the Booming EV Industry
Electric car sales in 2023 were 3.5 million higher than in 2022, a 35% increase in one year. The rise in demand for electric vehicles (“EVs”) has prompted many companies to enter the EV battery space. Given the rapid development of, and technological advances required to, create new EVs, innovators…
Plead Your Case, Not Your Secrets: A Discussion of Recent Trade Secret Complaints
Taking legal action to protect a trade secret is unlike other intellectual property litigation since what you’re trying to protect is a secret. Plaintiffs must navigate a fine line between pleading their complaint with enough specificity to put the Defendant on notice of what they allegedly misappropriated, but not too much to diminish the value of the secret. Several recent decisions indicate how to strike this balance.
Arbitrator Awards Company $155M for Competitor’s Use of Its Confidential Information
An American Arbitration Association arbitrator recently awarded Black Knight, Inc. (BK) $155M stemming from Pennymac Loan Services, LLC’s (Pennymac) alleged use of its mortgage-loan servicing platform to develop its own competing product. Though the arbitrator did not find Pennymac liable for trade secret misappropriation, they found that the use of…
CA Federal Court Awards Biomedical Companies $62M Following Jury Trial Involving Confidentiality-Related Claims
On November 1, 2023, a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California awarded damages to Skye Orthobiologics, LLC (“Skye”) and Human Regenerative Technologies, LLC (“HRT”) for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and breach of duty of loyalty by Skye’s former employee (“Defendant”). While…
N.J. District Court Denies Bid for TRO for Failure to Identify Trade Secrets, But Still Allows Case to Proceed
On November 9, 2023, in Ho-Ho-Kus, Inc. v. Sucharski, No. 2:23-cv-01677, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey found that Ho-Ho-Kus, Inc. (“HHK”) failed to show a trade secret existed with adequate specificity to justify granting a TRO or a preliminary injunction, but nevertheless denied a motion to dismiss arguing that the company failed to sufficiently plead the existence of a trade secret.
Trade Secret and Fiduciary Claims Against Former CEOs of Biotech Company Survive Motion to Dismiss
On December 1, 2023, in Global Discovery Biosciences Corp. v. Harrington, et al., No. 2022-1132, a Vice Chancellor of the Delaware Court of Chancery ruled on the balance of a motion to dismiss brought back in June 2023 by two former CEOs-Dr. Harrington and Mr. Nuñez (together, “Defendants”)-who were…