Successfully represented aerospace products and defense parts manufacturing company, plaintiff, in this trade secret misappropriation and breach of license case, which was filed in federal district court in Atlanta in 2005.  In this action, the plaintiff asserts that the defendant misused their trade secrets -- technical data relating to a U.S. Anti-Submarine Warfare Aircraft (of which the plaintiff is the original equipment manufacturer) -- to perform a direct commercial sales contract to refurbish and modernize an aircraft owned by the Republic of Korea.  The case began with a "race to the courthouse," with the plaintiff filing its complaint in Atlanta and, one hour later, the defendant filing its own complaint in federal district court. The plaintiff was successful in persuading the Atlanta district court to enjoin the defendant's prosecution of the action. The case was complex both in terms of the trade secret/technical data issues and in terms of the volume of discovery conducted by the parties.  During a jury trial conducted in May 2009 that lasted almost three weeks, the defendant argued that the information it was using on the Korean program was outdated and had fallen into the public domain.  The jury found, however, that the plaintiff's technical data were subject to protection under the Georgia Trade Secrets Act, that the defendant had misused the data by using the data to perform the Korean contract, that the defendant had breached a license agreement and nondisclosure agreement restricting its use of the technical data, and awarded damages of over $37 million.  The jury found that the defendant's conduct was willful and malicious, entitling the plaintiff to an award of its attorneys' fees and expenses of litigation. 

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