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05/03/07 Trade Secret Law: Los Cucos Mexican Cafe

By Sean Fowler

Los Cucos Mexican Cafe v. Sanchez, Court of Appeals of Texas, 13th Dist.. Corpus Christi - Edinburg, No. 13-05-578-CV (May 3, 2007):

Issue:
When two of its employees left the Los Cucos restaurant chain to start their own Mexican restaurant chain, Los Cucos sued. Los Cucos' multiple claims were largely based on its claim that its recipes -- which they argued were misappropriated -- were trade secrets. As evidence, they pointed to case law that had found that recipes could be considered trade secrets. The lower court found against them, and Los Cucos appealed.

Pertinent Issue of Trade Secret Law:
1) Are recipes per se trade secrets?

Conclusion:
The appeals court found that recipes must go through the same factor test as any other potential trade secret looking for protection. That a court case found that a recipe could be a trade secret did not mean that it will always be in every instance. Since Los Cucos offered no additional proof to establish the various factors needed to prove the existence of a trade secret, the court affirmed the lower court's findings on this matter.

Full post as published by Cogito Ergo Teneo; an intellectual property blawg on May 20, 2007 (boomark / email).