Trade Secrets News Roundup

A few cases popped up in the news this week. Two have the same theme of departing employees taking trade secrets. Let's all say it together one more time: hiring employees from competitors is good for employing lawyers and giving judges work.

For our first case of departing employees and trade secrets, we From The Athens Messenger comes Rocky Brands files lawsuit over use of its trade secrets which has an interesting twist:

The lawsuit was filed last week in U.S. District Court against Glen Bratcher of Springhill, Tenn.; Westwood Footwear and Accessories, Nashville; and Nantong Hong Yi Wang Shoes Co. of China. Rocky is asking for preliminary and permanent injunctions against the defendants.

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John Triggs, an attorney representing Bratcher and Westwood Footwear, said he has asked Judge Edmund Sargus to expedite the case by bypassing the preliminary injunction stage and instead hold a hearing on a permanent injunction. That hearing is scheduled for April 21, he said. "We are confident there will be a finding of no liability," Triggs said.

I call Triggs' strategy very interesting for a couple of reasons. Aggressive can be good and this is definitely aggressive. I cannot recall the same tactic being used but it seems similar in concept to suing a motion for summary judgment. I wrote about preliminary injunctions in my post, Four Steps to An Injunction. Omit step three from that article and substitute a lack of any case, and I think you have what Mr. Triggs needs to win his case. It also strikes me as being along the lines of a summary judgment.

The employee won in the other departing employee case. I read Romar files ruled trade secrets and my first reaction was "Ouch":

A jury ruled on Friday that documents taken by Robin Tomer from Romar Medequip were trade secrets and awarded $175,000 in compensatory damages to the company.

The jury also determined that Romar owed $4,000 to Tomer for unpaid salary and commissions.

Neither party received money for punitive damages or attorney fees.

The articles remarks bother parties sought a million dollars for their respective cases. The "Ouch" was for Romar.


For a case not involving employees but business clients, we have Donovan Accuses Starcom of Nabbing Trade Secrets from Adotas, an online magazine for interactive advertising.

"Donovan Data Systems Inc., which provides the software used by most media-buying firms, has accused former customer Starcom MediaVest Group, Inc., of stealing trade secrets, The Wall Street Journal reports."

Let this last case serve as a reminder that departing employees are not the only threat to a business' trade secrets.