Carolyn Luedtke Pens Life Sciences IP Review Article on Quintara Decision 

Munger, Tolles & Olson Partner Carolyn Hoecker Luedtke authored an article titled “The Quintara Decision: Defining Trade Secrets in Federal Cases,” published by Life Sciences IP Review. In the article, Carolyn examines the Ninth Circuit’s recent ruling in Quintara Biosciences, Inc. v. Ruifeng Biztech, Inc. and its implications for trade secret plaintiffs litigating under the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA).

The decision reversed a district court order that had struck most of a plaintiff’s asserted trade secrets for lack of sufficient particularity. The Ninth Circuit concluded that whether a plaintiff has adequately defined a trade secret under the DTSA is generally a question for summary judgment or trial, not an early discovery sanction.

In her article, Carolyn explains how the ruling highlights unresolved questions in trade secret litigation, including: when, under the DTSA, plaintiffs must describe trade secrets with “reasonable particularity;” whether California’s statutory early disclosure requirement applies in federal trade secret cases; how courts might manage early trade secret disclosure disputes through protective orders, phased discovery or summary judgment; and the evidentiary risks plaintiffs face if trade secrets are defined too broadly or too narrowly.

As Carolyn notes, Quintara will force litigants to grapple early with the scope and timing of trade secret definitions, an issue that continues to evolve across federal courts.

Read the Life Sciences IP Review article. (Subscription may be required)