Plaintiff Sent Back to District Court for $660 Million (or More) Reduction in Damages Award in Trade Secrets Case

摘要

In Epic Systems Corp. v. Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently dealt a blow to plaintiffs in trade secrets cases, vacating a jury verdict totaling $1.04 billion and remanding the case to the district court with instructions not to exceed $280 million in damages.1 According to the complaint, Tata Consultancy Services ("TCS") downloaded thousands of documents containing Epic's trade secrets, using an old user access account to an Epic internal testing and support system that had not been purged. Epic repeatedly turned down a client's requests that TCS be able to access to the system. Using this old account, TCS accessed Epic's confidential information to compile a spreadsheet comparing its products to Epic's, which it used to develop and market its own software products to clients, including Epic clients. Epic sued in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin asserting multiple causes of action, including breach of contract, fraudulent misrepresentation, misappropriation of trade secrets, unfair competition, deprivation of property, and unjust enrichment.