Until recently, companies suing for trade secret theft ran a risk of having to disclose to their competitors in open court certain aspects of their trade secrets in order to prove their claim. The companies often argued that they shouldn’t have to give up their trade secrets in order to pursue their legal rights. On the other hand, defendants argued that they cannot defend against a claim when they don’t know what they are accused of taking. Last month, the Texas Supreme Court clarified how such dilemma is to be resolved.
The Court ruled that a company suing for trade secret misappropriation may exclude its competitor’s representatives from the courtroom when their trade secrets are discussed, leaving only the lawyers and independent outside experts of the competitor to hear such testimony. This way, a defendant can learn the information it needs to defend against the claims brought against it, but the information cannot be used outside of the lawsuit.
Under TUTSA, trial courts are required to take “reasonable measures” to protect trade secrets during litigation, including, among other things, “holding in camera hearings” i.e. hearings that are closed to the public because they will involve discussion of trade secrets. TUTSA does not specifically define the term or explain exactly who may or may not be present during in camera hearings. Recently, NOV and M-I Swaco battled in court over whether NOV’s corporate representative could be present at a hearing where M-I Swaco offered testimony about what trade secrets its former employee took from it and gave to NOV.
In In Re M-I, LLC d/b/a M-I Swaco, NOV argued that as a party to the lawsuit where it was accused of stealing trade secrets from M-I Swaco, it had a right to be present at a temporary injunction hearing and hear what trade secrets M-I Swaco claimed NOV misappropriated. The Texas Supreme Court did not buy into this argument finding that in camera hearings could include hearings where a party or its representatives (but not its attorneys) could be excluded.
The Supreme Court explained that when a trial judge is faced with the decision on whether to exclude a corporate representative from the courtroom during testimony about trade secrets, which he might not already know by virtue of misappropriation, the judge must balance (1) the “degree of competitive harm” the party would have suffered from the disclosure of its trade secrets to the other party’s corporate representative and (2) the degree to which a party’s defense of a trade secrets case might be impaired if its corporate representative is excluded from the courtroom.
To make this determination regarding the degree of competitive harm, the court must consider the relative value of the party’s trade secrets to its competitor as well as whether the corporate representative acts as a competitive decision-maker at his company. If he does, disclosure of alleged trade secrets would “necessarily entail greater competitive harm” because, even when acting in good faith, the corporate representative would not be able to resist acting on what he or she may learn during the hearing. To determine whether a party’s defense might be impaired, the court should consider whether a corporate representative possess unique expertise that a party may not find in outside experts.
Takeway: The Texas Supreme Court has made it clear that a company wishing to prosecute theft of trade secrets can do so without having to disclose its trade secrets to a competitor in an open court. If the disclosure of such information in open court will harm the company, it may ask the judge to remove its competitor’s representatives from the courtroom when critical proprietary information is discussed, leaving it up to the other sides’ lawyers and experts to analyze the testimony or evidence. While this will certainly increase the cost of trade secrets litigation, it will also ensure that a competitor cannot use the courtroom to get to the “secret sauce.”
Leiza Dolghih is the founder of Dolghih Law Group PLLC. She is board certified in labor and employment law and has 16+ years of experience in commercial and employment litigation, including trade secrets and non-compete disputes. You can contact her directly at leiza@dlg-legal.com or (214) 531-2403.
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