Robert Milligan and Carolyn Sieve Published in The Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice
“Adequately Identifying Trade Secrets in California Trade Secret Misappropriation Litigation”

Robert Milligan and Carolyn Sieve’s article, “Adequately Identifying Trade Secrets in California Trade Secret Misappropriation Litigation,” was published in the 2009 edition of The Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice. In their article, the authors discuss the Brescia v. Angelin case in which William Brescia accused his competitors of stealing his ideas by producing and selling a high protein, low carbohydrate pudding based on his alleged formula and business plan. The authors note that Brescia's competitors sued him for trade libel, and then Brescia countersued for misappropriation of trade secrets. Robert and Carolyn explain that “the Court of Appeal found the identification statement of a manufacturer of high protein, low carbohydrate pudding reasonably specific and reversed the trial court's decision dismissing the manufacturer's case."

The authors conclude, “the California Supreme Court left undisturbed a Court of Appeal decision that trade secret identification statements need only be reasonable under the circumstances, and that ‘[t]he identification is to be liberally construed, and reasonable doubts concerning its sufficiency are to be resolved in favor of allowing discovery to commence.’”