Award of Damages for Misappropriation Does Not Preclude Also Awarding Injunctive Relief

Clarifying the legal principle that an injunction will only be entered if there is no adequate remedy at law, the Ohio Court of Appeals held recently that an award of damages for past trade secret misappropriation is not inconsistent with, and does not preclude granting, injunctive relief to prevent future harm. Litigation Management, Inc. v. Bourgeois, 2011 Ohio 2794 (Ct. of App. of Cuyahoga County, OH, June 9, 2011).

Litigation Management, Inc. (LMI) provides litigation support services. A number of LMI employees who had signed not-compete and confidentiality agreements left the company’s employ and formed a direct competitor which then used LMI’s trade secrets. LMI sued for damages and injunctive relief, and the damages case went to trial. After the close of the evidence, the judge blue-penciled the geographic limitations set forth in the agreements (substituting “the Greater Cleveland Metropolitan Area” for any place in the country) and submitted the case to the jury. It returned verdicts for LMI against all of the defendants. 

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