Nevada Federal Court Rules That Plaintiff Must Identify Trade Secrets With Specificity Before Serving Discovery

A Nevada federal court recently held that a plaintiff must identify trade secrets with specificity prior to seeking discovery from the defendant regarding that claim, adding Nevada to the growing number of jurisdictions with that requirement.

In this case, Switch Communications Group v. Ballard, case no. 2:11-cv-00285-KJD-GWF, the plaintiff owned and operated computer data centers in Las Vegas. Mr. Ballard, the defendant, had been employed by Switch as the company’s Chief Financial Officer for two years, before his employment was terminated in 2006. According to the complaint, as a result of his employment, Ballard had acquired substantial knowledge of confidential information, including the location of plaintiff’s carrier fiber and structure of carrier fiber agreements, location of key client installations, the terms of Switch’s agreements with customers, and other such information. Switch alleged Ballard was preparing to build a competing business and utilize these trade secrets, and sued him for misappropriation of intellectual property, breach of contract, unfair commercial advantage, unjust enrichment, copyright infringement, and tortious interference with contractual relations.

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