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: Cogito Ergo Teneo; an intellectual property blawg

04/24/07 Trade Secret Law: Lydall

By Sean Fowler

Lydall v. Ruschmeyer, Supreme Court of Connecticut, No. SC 17612 (April 24, 2007):

Issue:
Ruschmeyer appealed several trade secret outcomes weighing against his favor. Chief among them was the lower court's assertion that because the entire strategic plan in question was a trade secret, each disclosure of a portion of that strategic plan was itself another misappropriation.

Pertinent Issue of Trade Secret Law:
1) If a plan is a trade secret, is each element of that plan also a trade secret?

Conclusion:
No, not necessarily. The court found that if the entire plan was a trade secret, then the only way that each element could also be a trade secret by virtue of being a part of the larger trade secret -- the plan -- is if the disclosure of that element of the plan would essentially disclose the whole plan. Since the lower court had assumed that -- regardless of the effect of the disclosure of certain elements of the plan -- each element of the plan was entitled to trade secret protection, the Connecticut Supreme Court voided the grant of injunction.

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