Opinion ID: 167987
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Rivendell Instruction

Text: Heumann argues the district court provided the jury with an incorrect statement of the law concerning the application of trade secret status to publicly known information. Specifically, Heumann contends that jury instruction number 19, based on this court’s decision in Rivendell Forest Products v. Georgia-Pacific Corp., 28 F.3d 1042 (10th Cir. 1994), did not articulate the degree of specificity ISR was required to show regarding how a combination of publicly known information was a protectable trade secret. Heumann maintains that this error was fundamental because ISR’s claims for misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of the covenant not to compete, and breach of the confidentiality provision all required the existence of trade secrets. In Rivendell, we held: the doctrine has been established that a trade secret can include a system w here the elements are in the public domain, but there has been accomplished an effective, successful and valuable integration of the public domain elements and the trade secret gave the claimant a competitive advantage which is protected from misappropriation. Id. at 1046. In Harvey I, we specifically relied on Rivendell to “conclude that the district court improperly looked at components of the ISR program in isolation, rather than as a whole, in determining that ISR does not possess a trade secret.” 338 F.3d at 1130. Following our guidance, the district court gave an instruction based on Rivendell to supplement instruction number 17, which defined “trade secret,” and instruction number 18, which listed relevant factors in determining -16- whether a trade secret exists. Instruction number 19, the “Rivendell instruction,” stated: A trade secret can exist in a combination of characteristics and components each of which, by itself, is in the public domain, but the unified process, design and operation of which, in unique combination, affords a competitive advantage and is a protectable secret. Instr. No. 19, App. at 111. Heumann asserts that the district court’s Rivendell instruction was an incorrect statement of the law because it failed to inform the jury of the degree of specificity a plaintiff is required to show before a combination of publicly available information can constitute a trade secret. W e are not persuaded. It was not an abuse of discretion for the district court to refuse to instruct the jury regarding the level of specificity ISR must satisfy before it could establish that a unique combination of publicly available information constituted a trade secret. The district court’s Rivendell instruction, standing alone, is an accurate statement of our prior precedent. The district court gave three instructions to assist the jury in determining whether ISR had trade secrets, and these instructions, as a whole, provided a fair and adequate guide on this difficult to define concept. M oreover, we note that after refusing to change the Rivendell instruction, the district court -17- told Heumann that she could make her point to the jury during closing arguments. Supp. App. at 571. 10