Opinion ID: 2813318
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: SMI’s Remaining Claims

Text: The district court also dismissed all of SMI’s remaining claims. It held that each of these claims (1) requires a finding of trade secret misappropriation and thus fail with the misappropriation claim, and (2) fails for an independent reason. SMI’s opening brief addresses its misappropriation claim only, omitting entirely any mention of its eight remaining claims. SMI has therefore waived its right to appeal the district court’s judgment with respect to these claims. 81 80 SMI also alleges that the district court improperly weighed evidence by crediting “ARGO’s claim that CIO was market-ready before ARGO had access to SMI’s VaultWorksrelated trade secrets” over evidence showing that “CIO was not fully implemented at BancorpSouth for more than a year after ARGO had gained access to SMI’s trade secrets.” Contrary to SMI’s assertions, these statements are not contradictory. A new product may be ready for sale and still require a significant rollout effort. Indeed, SMI implicitly acknowledges the existence of these two distinct phases in a computer program’s lifecycle when it contends that its trade secrets were used by ARGO in the “development and implantation [sic] of CIO” (emphasis added). 81 See Cavallini v. State Farm Mut. Auto Ins. Co., 44 F.3d 256, 260 n.9 (5th Cir. 1995) (“[W]e do not consider issues raised for the first time in a reply brief.”). 22 Case: 14-10753 Document: 00513100328 Page: 23 Date Filed: 06/30/2015 No. 14-10753 Moreover, SMI’s reply brief contains only the conclusional statement: “Likewise, SMI’s remaining claims were viable.” It then cites only part of SMI’s prior briefing in the district court. This bare bones citing does not satisfy the requirements of Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 28(a). 82 By failing to identify any error in the district court’s reasoning or submit any new authority in support of its position, SMI has waived merits consideration of its remaining eight claims.