Agilent Wins Trade-Secret Suit
The court’s calculation for compensatory damages and damages for unjust enrichment was $4.5 million, but excludes pre-judgment interest on lost profits, which will be calculated prior to the final order. Agilent’s request for an injunction was denied, but the court did rule that the defendants must return confidential materials to Agilent, cannot conduct research or file patent applications based on the materials, and must withdraw patent applications based on the materials.
Santa Clara, CA 2/22/10—Agilent Technologies announced a decision in its favor in its trade secrets and breach of contract case against Advanced Materials Technology (AMT) and three of its employees (see IBO 1/31/08). AMT develops and sells the Halo line of Fused-Core particle technology HPLC columns for fast LC. Agilent stated that the Delaware Court of Chancery found that the individual defendants breached their employment contracts with Agilent by removing Agilent property without permission and used the confidential information to benefit AMT. Agilent stated that the court ruled that the defendants are liable for monetary damages and attorneys’ fees as a result of willful and malicious conduct. The three defendants were AMT’s Vice President of R&D Joseph J. Kirkland, President Joseph J. Destefano, and Vice President of Manufacturing Timothy J. Langlois.
