Secrecy Is a Necessary, but Not Sufficient, Condition of Alleging Information Is “Trade Secret”: a Court Rules Information Must Confer a Competitive Business Advantage to Receive Statutory Trade Secret Protection Under DTSA

In Payward, Inc. v. Runyon, Case No. 20-cv-02130-MMC, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California granted a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, ruling that information alleged to be “secret” failed to qualify as a “trade secret” under the Defend Trade Secrets Act. The Court applied California and federal precedent explaining trade secret information confers a competitive business advantage, and found the complaint lacked any such allegations. The decision make sense given the...
By: Epstein Becker & Green

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