Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Traverse Internet Law Federal Court Report: June 2012 - Trade Secret Violation Lawsuits


The facts are unproven allegations of the Plaintiff and all commentary is based upon the allegations, the truthfulness and accuracy of which are likely in dispute.


DIABLO MEDIA, LLC v. H2H IINTERACTIVE, INC., ET AL.
DISTRICT OF COLORADO
1:12-CV-01246-WJM
FILED: 05/11/2012

Once again, you can have the best contracts in the world but if an employee is set on stealing from you there is not much you can do except resort to the legal process, either criminal or civil, depending upon the problem. 

Diablo claims that the Defendants misappropriated a broad amount of data and information including not only contact information of its private business partners but also success rates, conversion data, campaign return on investment data, and other business and financial information associated with each of the affiliates.

Plaintiff alleges false advertising, trade libel, misappropriation of trade secrets, and breach of contract.  The prayer for relief requests that the Court enter a judgment against Defendants for compensatory damages for false advertising and trade libel, compensatory damages for breach of contract, and treble and exemplary damages for oppression, fraud, and malice.  Prayer for relief also requests an award of all attorneys’ fees and costs for action.  Traverse Internet Law Cross Reference Number 1568.

Friday, May 25, 2012

Traverse Internet Law Federal Court Report: May 2012 - Trade Secret Violation Lawsuits


The facts are unproven allegations of the Plaintiff and all commentary is based upon the allegations, the truthfulness and accuracy of which are likely in dispute.


DELTA MEDIA GROUP, INC. v. CHARTWELL REALTY, LLC, ET AL.
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO
5:12-CV-00885-JRA
FILED: 4/12/2012

The “trade secret” violation arises from the Plaintiff’s claim that the Defendants knew of the ownership of the property by the Plaintiff and improperly acquired that information by accessing computer software.  Of course, to the extent the information was publicly viewable and available it is doubtful that this information would constitute a “trade secret”.

The Plaintiff is engaged in the business of providing a subscription service to design websites in the real estate professional industry.  Defendants are competitors.  The Defendants are alleged to have willfully made unauthorized copies of the .html code from one of Plaintiff’s sites and is using the infringing material for another website.

The lawsuit alleges copyright infringement, unfair competition, breach of contract, unfair deceptive trade practices, and trade secret violation. Delta requests injunctive relief to prevent further infringement, the payment of the Defendants' profits, any damages sustained by Delta, the costs of the action, statutory and punitive damages, injunctive relief, and reasonable attorney’s fees.  Traverse Internet Law Cross Reference Number 1563

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Traverse Internet Law Federal Court Report: January 2012 - Trade Secret Violation Lawsuits


The facts are unproven allegations of the Plaintiff and all commentary is based upon the allegations, the truthfulness and accuracy of which are likely in dispute.


SEMO ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES, LLC, ET AL. v. RIDDLE ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES, LLC, ET AL.
EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI (CAPE GIRARDEAU)
1:11-CV-00226-SNLJ
FILED: 12/22/2011

When a relationship ends you must be careful to go through and “clean up” your use of property and assets of your ex-partner.
The Plaintiffs are involved in the business of cleaning up spills of hazardous materials. The Defendants were former independent contractors providing consulting and sales services to the Plaintiffs. The Plaintiffs allege that the Defendants made false representations to a domain name registrar and obtained ownership and control of two important domain names used by the Plaintiffs in their business. The Plaintiffs claim the information used to effectuate this transfer was protected by trade secrets laws.

The lawsuit alleges false designations of origin, cyber-piracy, trademark infringement, unfair competition, misappropriation of trade secrets, and breach of fiduciary duty. The Plaintiffs’ prayer for relief requests the entry of a temporary restraining order to prevent misrepresentation of the Plaintiffs and their business, an award of statutory and punitive damages, destruction of confidential documents, costs of suit and such other relief as the Court deems equitable and just. Traverse Internet Law Cross Reference Number 1540.