Opinion ID: 2799601
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Parties’ Business Relationship

Text: Plaintiff-Appellant WSI is a logistics business formed in 1996 by Joseph Lebovich. In 1998, Lebovich developed a software program called Intelligent Audit. Intelligent Audit is a web-based program that interfaces with UPS and FedEx tracking systems to allow companies to track their packages and collect 1 We review de novo the district court’s grant of summary judgment, viewing all facts in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Morales v. Zenith Ins. Co., 714 F.3d 1220, 1226 (11th Cir. 2013). Summary judgment is appropriate only when there exists no genuine factual dispute and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). 2 Case: 14-14943 Date Filed: 05/08/2015 Page: 3 of 10 funds for late or missing packages. Intelligent Audit generates customer reports, performs e-bill audits, and allows customers to view real-time data regarding their packages. Lebovich hired Scott Langley and Langley’s company to help sell the Intelligent Audit program. Langley received a 20% interest in the software in return for his services. Defendant-Appellee ILL is a logistics company that, like WSI, provides users with package-tracking software. In 2002, after seeing Langley’s demonstration of Intelligent Audit, ILL hired Langley and ILL began reselling the program to its own customers under the name “ShipLink.” For each parcel audited by the ShipLink program, ILL paid WSI a transaction fee of $.015. WSI and ILL never executed a written agreement with regard to this resale arrangement or any other aspect of their business relationship. To log into the Intelligent Audit program, a user must enter an authorized user identification (“ID”) and password. As a reseller of the software, ILL “actively managed” its customers’ accounts and was authorized to create and give user IDs and passwords to its customers. Because ILL was the most active user of the system, it had greater access to the program’s features than other resellers or end-users, i.e., customers. However, it is undisputed that ILL never had access to Intelligent Audit’s source code. 3 Case: 14-14943 Date Filed: 05/08/2015 Page: 4 of 10 On several occasions, Lebovich told ILL that Intelligent Audit was highly confidential and proprietary. Lebovich instructed ILL not to share the program with anyone outside of ILL, with the exception of ILL’s customers who had signed a contract containing a confidentiality provision that expressly forbade disclosure. In 2004, without WSI’s knowledge, ILL hired Platinum Circles Technologies (“Platinum”) to develop its own web-based tracking program that was visually and functionally similar to Intelligent Audit. ILL gave Platinum a user ID and password to log onto the Intelligent Audit program. Like ILL, however, Platinum never had access to the program’s source code. On September 30, 2005, ILL terminated its business relationship with WSI and began selling the program developed by Platinum under the “ShipLink” name.