Opinion ID: 3066520
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Long-Path Gas Cell Trade Secret Claim

Text: In the district court, On-Line alleged that Perkin-Elmer misappropriated confidential information relating to the design of On-Line’s long-path gas cell. The district court ruled that On-Line failed to prove actionable misappropriation because the information at issue was disclosed in the ’143 patent and because On-Line failed to point to any evidence that Perkin-Elmer had improperly used any information relating to the gas cell prior to the issuance of the patent. Based on the summary judgment record, the district court concluded that undisputed evidence showed that Perkin-Elmer did not begin to incorporate the features of On-Line’s gas cell into its own product until 1996, after the issuance of the ’143 patent. Although On-Line referred to evidence regarding Perkin-Elmer’s conduct before the issuance of the ’143 patent, the district court held that none of that evidence was probative of misappropriation because the conduct in question all constituted legitimate evaluation of On-Line’s product pursuant to the nondisclosure agreement entered into by On-Line and Perkin-Elmer in 1994. As to On-Line’s claim that not all of the secrets relating to its gas cell were disclosed in the ’143 patent, the court found that claim to be unsupported by any evidence. After a patent has issued, the information contained within it is ordinarily regarded as public and not subject to protection as a trade secret. See Restatement (Third) of Unfair Competition § 39 cmt. f (1995) (“Information that is generally known or readily ascertainable through proper means . . . by others to whom it has potential economic value is not protectable as a trade secret. Thus, information that is disclosed in a patent or contained in published materials reasonably accessible to competitors does not qualify for protection [as a trade secret].”); Conmar Prods. Corp. v. Universal Slide Fastener Co., 172 F.2d 150, 155-56 (2d Cir. 1949) (L. Hand). Moreover, the nondisclosure agreement in this case specifically provided that the obligation of confidentiality created by the agreement “will not apply to any information . . . which becomes publicly available other than by breach of this agreement.” Consequently, On-Line cannot claim that Perkin-Elmer’s activities following the issuance of the ’143 patent constituted misappropriation of confidential information unless the activities related to information not disclosed in the patent. In the district court, On-Line claimed that Perkins-Elmer had misappropriated information relating to the design of the long-path gas cell and had used it to build its own long-path gas cell prior to the issuance of the ’143 patent. The district court, however, concluded that the evidence to which On-Line pointed did not create a genuine issue of material fact on that issue, and we agree. As characterized by the district court, the evidence showed that Perkin-Elmer took various steps to evaluate the On-Line technology that it was considering buying, but did not show that Perkin-Elmer began building its own gas cell before 1996. Although On-Line asserts that the evidence of Perkin-Elmer’s course of conduct with respect to On-Line’s product shows that it made use of On-Line’s gas cell trade secret before the issuance of the ’143 patent, On-Line’s general characterizations do not satisfy the requirement that it point to specific evidence sufficient to create a disputed issue of material fact. See Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 324 (1986) (non-movant in summary judgment proceedings must “designate specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial”); Crown Operations Int’l, Ltd. v. Solutia Inc., 289 F.3d 1367, 1377 (Fed. Cir. 2002) (“non-moving party must affirmatively demonstrate by specific factual allegations that a genuine issue of material fact exists for trial”); S. Bravo Sys., Inc. v. Containment Techs. Corp., 96 F.3d 1372, 1376 (Fed. Cir. 1996) (unsupported assertions do not satisfy requirement of designating specific evidence creating a genuine issue of material fact). We also reject On-Line’s argument that Perkin-Elmer’s acts of copying and testing On-Line’s gas cell during the period covered by the nondisclosure agreement were not authorized by the agreement and therefore constituted misappropriation. As the district court noted, On-Line did not present any evidence that Perkin-Elmer began to develop its own cell during the period covered by the agreement or otherwise engaged in conduct prohibited by the nondisclosure agreement. Instead, the evidence relating to Perkin-Elmer’s conduct with respect to the disclosed technology shows merely that Perkin-Elmer tested and evaluated that technology, which was conduct contemplated by the nondisclosure agreement. Moreover, Robert Hoult, a Perkin-Elmer scientist who visited On-Line’s facility following the execution of the nondisclosure agreement, submitted an affidavit in which he averred that he had learned nothing useful about On-Line’s gas cell that was not already evident from On-Line’s nonconfidential marketing brochure. On-Line did not offer evidence to contradict Dr. Hoult’s representation. Because On-Line failed to demonstrate a disputed issue of material fact with respect to the long-path gas cell trade secret claim, we affirm the district court’s grant of summary judgment on that issue.