The plaintiff was awarded $66 million in a matter involving the misappropriation of trade secrets by a former employee and a Chinese company.
Retained by Reed Smith
Lumileds, a Silicon Valley–based lighting company specializing in LED technology, sought damages in a California state matter involving the misappropriation of the company’s trade secrets by Chinese company Elec-Tech International Co. Ltd. (ETI). Plaintiff’s counsel retained Matthew Lynde of Cornerstone Research to opine on damages issues.
Dr. Lynde presented his analysis of the value of the trade secrets. He explained that ETI avoided significant costs by misappropriating Lumileds’s trade secrets.
The plaintiff accused a former employee of copying thousands of files containing Lumileds’s LED-related trade secrets and other information before terminating his employment with Lumileds in June 2012. According to Lumileds, the former employee then moved to China, where ETI began commercializing the misappropriated material. The plaintiff sought the value of stolen trade secrets as damages.
In his expert testimony, Dr. Lynde presented his analysis of the value of the trade secrets. He explained that ETI avoided significant costs by misappropriating Lumileds’s trade secrets.
A California jury awarded Lumileds $66 million. The trial’s outcome was featured in Law360. Lumileds’s General Counsel Cheree McAlpine commented that “The precedent set by today’s verdict sends a clear message to the industry that intellectual property will be guarded and enforced.”
San Francisco
