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.