2023 Trade Secret Update: A Look Back at Recent Trade Secret Developments
- Joshua Lerner, Mitch Santos, Kaia Boonzaier, Mihdi Afnan
- 6.12.2023
WilmerHale lawyers advise clients on every aspect of trade secret law from contracts to complex litigation. Below is a short update on important cases and developments.
IDENTIFYING A TRADE SECRET
Trade secret identification remains a hot button issue. Notwithstanding years of commentary and a statutory framework for trade secret identification in some states, including California, courts across the country continue to take differing approaches to trade secret allegations.
- REXA, Inc. v. Chester, 42 F.4th 652 (7th Cir. 2022)—Insufficiently alleging a trade secret
In 1993, Koso America purchased the assets of REXA Corporation. In 1998, Koso hired Defendant Mark Chester but did not enter into a formal employment agreement with Chester. In 2002, Chester participated in a project to investigate potential “alternate valves” for an actuator that would enable Koso to cease having to pay royalties to a third party. For several weeks, Chester and a colleague sought to create a replacement “flow matching valve” for an actuator, but they did not succeed. Instead, they succeeded in creating a prototype of a new actuator. Within months, Koso terminated the project, and no information was used for any later product or plan. Chester resigned from Koso in July 2003. In 2014, Koso underwent a reorganization, which created REXA, Inc.
