If Confidential Information Constituted A Trade Secret On The Date It Was Misappropriated, The Misappropriation Is Actionable

A district court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin recently held that even though misappropriated information no longer was a trade secret on the date the wrongdoer was sued, a misappropriation lawsuit may be maintained if the information qualified as a trade secret on the date of the wrongdoing. Encap, LLC v. The Scotts Co., LLC, Case No. 11-C-685 (E.D. Wis., Sept. 14, 2012).

The case involved a dispute between two companies in the lawn and garden industry. Plaintiff Encap has invented many novel platform technologies in the seed, mulch, and fertilizer industries. Defendant The Scotts Company is well known for its Miracle-Gro, EZ Seed, and Turf Builder Grass Seed products.

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