California Court of Appeal
Ajaxo Inc. v. E*Trade Fin. Corp., H033631
In plaintiff's suit against E*Trade Financial Corporation (E*Trade) for misappropriation of trade secrets under the California Uniform Trade Secret Act, trial court's denial of plaintiff's request for award of reasonable royalties is reversed and remanded where: 1) given the jury's finding that E*Trade did not profit from its misappropriation of trade secrets, unjust enrichment is not "provable" within the meaning of section 3426.3; 2) since E*Trade had consistently and successfully taken the position that plaintiff's actual losses are not provable, E*Trade is estopped from arguing otherwise now; and 3) because neither actual loss nor unjust enrichment is provable, the trial court had discretion pursuant to section 3426.3(b) to order payment of a reasonable royalty.
Appellate Information
- Submitted 08/30/2010
- Decided 08/30/2010
- Published 08/30/2010
Judges
- Premo
Court
- California Court of Appeal
Counsel
- For Appellant:
- Kathryn S. Diemer, Joseph E. Floren