Trade secret Litigation News for the Week of May 24

Craiglist and eBay go at in California, Craigslist sues eBay and alleges corporate spy plan:

In a lawsuit filed in California Superior Court in San Francisco, Craigslist challenged allegations in an eBay suit filed in Delaware state court in April that accused Craigslist of discriminating against eBay as a shareholder.

EBay's suit in Delaware Chancery Court charged Craigslist had used "clandestine meetings" to dilute eBay's 28.4 percent stake in Craigslist to 24.85, or less than a quarter of the company.

In addition to unfair competition and fraudulent business claims, the countersuit accuses eBay of copyright infringement and using misleading advertising on Google to run ads for its rival Kijiji site that appeared to be Craigslist ads.

The lawsuit demands that eBay restore all shares of Craigslist owned by eBay or for the court to require eBay to divest its holdings in Craigslist. The suit asks eBay to disgorge profits tied to the business and for punitive damages.

EBay spokeswoman Kim Rubey responded to Craigslist's lawsuit against eBay, saying: "We regret that Craigslist felt compelled to resort to unfounded and unsubstantiated claims in order to divert attention from actions by Craigslist's board that unfairly diluted our minority interest."

The Coca-Cola case from a few years back resurfaced, Federal Court of Appeals Affirms Sentences in Theft of Trade Secret Case

In a federal criminal case that was prosecuted in Atlanta, Georgia, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed the sentences of two individuals convicted of conspiracy to commit theft of trade secrets. This federal case received a lot of media attention because it involved an allegation that a Coca-Cola Company employee and others attempted to sell confidential documents and materials to one of Coke's main competitors, Pepsi. After learning of the alleged scheme, an FBI agent posed as a Pepsi employee who was interested in purchasing the documents.

I mentioned the Fisker/Tesla case in Trade Secrets Litigation News. Green Car Advisor reports Fisker wants the case to go to arbitration. AS the report notes, arbitration takes the case out of court and out of public scrutiny.