Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-24-2024
Keywords
Zunum Aero Inc. v. The Boeing Co., Trade secrets, Proprietary information
Disciplines
Antitrust and Trade Regulation | Intellectual Property Law
Abstract
On Aug. 14, a $72 million jury trial win by Zunum Aero Inc. against The Boeing Co. in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington for trade secret misappropriation evaporated with the court's post-trial holding that Zunum had failed to identify its trade secrets sufficiently.
How did we get here after three years of litigation, eight days of trial and countless dollars spent? How can litigants — and courts — avoid this situation in the future?
Clear pretrial identification of trade secrets is key, and litigants can find a road map for this in the Sedona Conference's 2021 commentary on "The Proper Identification of Asserted Trade Secrets in Misappropriation Cases." Zunum underscores the benefit of following that road map all the way through trial.
Recommended Citation
D'Amore, Matthew, "Boeing Ruling Is A Cautionary Tale For Trade Secret Litigants" (2024). Cornell Law Faculty Publications. 1796.
https://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/facpub/1796
Comments
Published in Law360 on September 24, 2024.