Federal Circuit Reverses Lower Court’s Ruling That Plaintiff’s Trade Secret Misappropriation And Conspiracy Claims Were Untimely And Unprovable

The Federal Circuit recently held that the dismissal of a trade secrets complaint for failure to state a justiciable claim was not warranted merely because the misconduct allegedly involved a number of wrongdoers and began many years before the complaint was filed.

 

Overview of the case. ABB alleged that, during a several decade period, some of its former employees engaged in a conspiracy to misappropriate — and to pass to alleged co-conspirator competitors — confidential information relating to its products. The district court dismissed on the grounds that the relevant statute of limitations had expired and that ABB had not been reasonably diligent in protecting its trade secrets. On appeal, the judgment was reversed. 

 

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