Florida/Georgia Personal Injury & Workers Compensation

...s to the equitable before Gordon joined Highland. 25 If the violation of a restrictive covenant also involves misappropriation of trade secrets, a court is empowered to grant relief beyond ordinary contract damages. See Fla. Stat. § 688.004. 45 principle that "‘no one shall be permitted to profit by his own fraud, or take advantage of his own wrong, or found any claim upon his own iniquity, or profit by his own crime,'" Cabrerizo v....

...Count II, and $300,000 on Count VI. 2 PAC appeals these judgments, and Bateman and Fricker cross-appeal, asserting that the district court abused its discretion in refusing to award exemplary damages to them on the trade secret claim under Fla.Stat. § 688.004(2)....

...verdict and JNOV on the state law trade secret claim. The sole issue on cross-appeal is whether the district court abused its discretion in refusing to award exemplary damages on Bateman and Fricker’s trade secret claim of Count VI under Fla.Stat. § 688.004(2), given the evidence that supported the jury verdict in Bateman and Fricker’s favor on this count....

...PAC contends that the district court erred in denying its motions for directed verdict and JNOV on the trade secret claim. Bateman and Flicker, in their sole issue on cross-appeal, contend that the district court abused its discretion in refusing to award exemplary damages on their trade secret claim pursuant to Fla.Stat. § 688.004(2), given the evidence that supported the jury verdict in Bateman and Flicker's favor on this count....

...Bate-man and Flicker to prevail on their trade secret misappropriation claim. . In light of our resolution of the trade secret issue, we need not address Bateman and Flicker’s cross-appeal concerning the award of exemplary damages under Fla.Stat. § 688.004(2).

...law on AlphaMed's misappropriation of trade secrets count on three grounds. The first argument is that AlphaMed cannot recover under the Uniform Trade Secrets Act ("UTSA") because it did not present any evidence of damages as required by Fla. Stat. § 688.004....

...rade secrets. Florida's codification of the UTSA ("FUTSA") provides that the owner of a trade secret that has been misappropriated may seek to redress such injury by obtaining injunctive relief, monetary relief, or both. See Fla. Stat. §§ 688.003, 688.004....

...l loss. In lieu of damages measured by any other methods, the damages caused by misappropriation may be measured by imposition of liability for a reasonable royalty for a misappropriator's unauthorized disclosure or use of a trade secret. Fla. Stat. § 688.004....

...§ 688.002] in fact evidences that it specifically intended to exclude damages as an element of a prima facie claim for misappropriation." [D.E. 952 at 4]. AlphaMed seizes on the seemingly permissive language of the quoted statute to emphasize that "Section 688.004 simply sets forth the damages that may be available to a complainant; nowhere does the Florida UTSA state that a complainant must prove damages in order to maintain its claim." [ Id....

...[6] In order to prevail on a claim for misappropriation of trade secrets under Florida *1141 law, a plaintiff must demonstrate that the defendants misappropriated secret information from the plaintiff of which the plaintiff made reasonable efforts to maintain the secrecy, resulting in damages. See § 688.004, Florida Statutes; Lee v....

...1538, 1569 (S.D.Fla.1996)(holding that claim for civil theft of trade secrets is not barred by the economic loss rule). [76] In re Standard Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases (No. 2004-1), 915 So.2d 609, 612 (Fla.2005). [77] Doc. 15, p. 14, n. 4. [78] Fla. Stat. § 688.004....

...t) and constructive fraud must be dismissed, the Court will consider whether the remaining claims are preempted by operation Florida's Uniform Trade Secrets Act, §§ 688.001, et seq. ("FUTSA"). The Court concludes that the claims are not preempted. Section 688.004 of FUTSA states that a complainant may recover damages for the misappropriation of its trade secrets....

...Perdue also challenges the award of unjust enrichment damages and the denial of its motion for remittitur. We affirm these issues without discussion. EXEMPLARY DAMAGES The jury determined that the misappropriation of Hook's trade secret by Perdue was "willful and malicious." Pursuant to section 688.004(2), Florida Statutes (1993), the trial court awarded Hook $6,750,000 in exemplary damages....

...e of entitlement and amount, if any, to the trial court's discretion. In exercising that discretion, the trial court must examine the conduct of the defendant in light of the established law governing the award of such damages. Our interpretation of section 688.004(2) is consistent with the result reached by the Iowa Supreme Court in Olson v....

...nness or outrageousness. See Griffith v. Shamrock Village, Inc., 94 So.2d 854 (Fla.1957); John Brown Automation, Inc. v. Nobles, 537 So.2d 614 (Fla. 2d DCA 1988). We see no reason to set a different standard for the award of such damages pursuant to section 688.004(2)....

...he jury verdict and the final judgment. Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded. WHATLEY and NORTHCUTT, JJ., concur. NOTES [1] Both Florida and Iowa have adopted the "Uniform Trade Secret Act." Section 550.4 of the Iowa Code is identical to section 688.004(2), Florida Statutes (1993). [2] Section 688.004(1), Florida Statutes (1993), states: 688.004 Damages.— (1) Except to the extent that a material and prejudicial change of position prior to acquiring knowledge or reason to know of misappropriation renders a monetary recovery inequitable, a complainant is entitled to recover damages for misappropriation....

...nrichment caused by misappropriation that is not taken into account in computing actual loss. If willful and malicious misappropriation exists, the court may award exemplary damages in an amount not exceeding twice any compensatory award. Fla. Stat. § 688.004....

...iling himself and another GA employee confidential and proprietary documents containing trade secrets. VAS seeks both injunctive relief pursuant to section 688.003 of the Florida Uni *1358 form Trade Secrets Act (“UTSA”), and damages pursuant to section 688.004 of the UTSA....

...under a mixed standard of de novo and abuse of discretion”). In an action for misappropriation of a trade secret, “[djamages can include both the actual loss caused by misappropriation and the unjust enrichment caused by misappropriation that is not taken into account in computing actual loss.” § 688.004(1), Fla....

...4 We first note that section 688.003(1), Florida Statutes, which allows for a plaintiff in a misappropriation of trade secrets case to obtain injunctive relief, provides that, in general, “an injunction shall be terminated when the trade secret has ceased to exist.” Section 688.004, Florida Statutes, does not require that this period be applied to limit a trade secret plaintiffs actual losses. Instead, section 688.004 requires causation between the actual losses and the misappropriation....

...ed to build the spooling machine “is and was commonly available,” the trial court directed the jury to the definition of “unjust enrichment” and the “accounting period” instruction. This response was consistent with our interpretation of section 688.004, Florida Statutes. In summation, a plaintiffs actual losses in a misappropriation of trade secrets case need only be “caused by” the misappropriation. § 688.004, Fla....

...Under FUTSA, "a complainant is entitled to recover damages for misappropriation. Damages can include both the actual loss caused by misappropriation and the unjust enrichment caused by misappropriation that is not taken into account in computing actual loss." Fla. Stat. § 688.004 (2008)....

...d 2 to benefit JM’s competitors. JM sued Mapei and SPCI alleging counts for: (1) account stated for services rendered; (2) breach of contract; (3) breach of the confidentiality provision; (4) violation of section 688.004, Florida Statutes (2017); and (5) temporary and permanent injunctive relief for violation of section 688.003, Florida Statutes (2017). JM also filed an emergency motion for temporary injunction seeking to enjoin Mapei and SPCI fro...

...misappropriated Millionaire Gallery’s trade secret, engaged in unfair competition, and breached his fiduciary duty to Millionaire Gallery. Nor has Forbes shown that there was no evidence to award damages on Millionaire Gallery’s claims. See § 688.004(1) (“Damages can include both the actual loss caused by misappropriation and the unjust enrichment caused by misappropriation that is not taken into account in computing actual loss.”); Premier Lab Supply, Inc....

...2 iControl contends that even if the jury’s baseline liability finding stands, its exemplary-damages award cannot. FUTSA per- mits exemplary damages if “willful and malicious misappropriation exists.” Fla. Stat. § 688.004(2)....

...Page: 14 of 28 14 Opinion of the Court 20-13368 liability for a reasonable royalty for a misappropria- tor’s unauthorized disclosure or use of a trade secret. Fla. Stat. § 688.004(1) (emphasis added)....

...and deduct these costs from revenues in a lost-profits analysis. For the following reasons, we disagree. We start with the text of FUTSA’s damages provision— which, again, permits damages for “the actual loss caused by mis- appropriation.” Fla. Stat. § 688.004(1)....

...contract-based dam- ages methodology is different from a calculation of “actual costs.” See RKR, 995 So.2d at 592. As already explained, by its terms, FUTSA permits damages only for “the actual loss caused by misap- propriation.” Fla. Stat. § 688.004(1)....