Photo of Heath Coffman

Heath Coffman

Subscribe to Heath Coffman's Posts

Heath Coffman is a shareholder at Brackett & Ellis, P.C. in Fort Worth, Texas.  His practice includes commercial litigation, intellectual property, collections, professional malpractice defense, fiduciary litigation, and appeals.  You can contact him directly at hcoffman@belaw.com.

Follow:Read more about Heath CoffmanHeath's Linkedin ProfileHeath's Twitter Profile

When it comes to injunctive relief under the Texas Uniform Trade Secret Act (TUTSA), courts are slowly developing their standards. In First Command Financial Planning, Inc. v. Velez, No. 4:16-cv-01008-0, 2017 WL 2900405 (N.D. Tex. May 8, 2017), the Northern District of Texas stated its standard. For injunctive relief in First Command Financial, the court required a showing of irreparable harm. The Court then cited the San Antonio Court of Appeals case of Hughes v. Age Industries for the proposition that irreparable harm is established by a showing that the “defendant possesses the trade secrets and is in a position to use them.”
Continue Reading Northern District of Texas Case Explores Standard for Injunctive Relief Under Texas Uniform Trade Secret Act

In my earlier posts, I explored the complicated definition of “misappropriation” under the Texas Uniform Trade Secret Act (TUTSA).  Litigants and courts often fail to understand all the ways a trade secret may be misappropriated.  In this post, I explore the fifth of six alternative paths to liability under TUTSA:
Continue Reading The Six Paths to Liability Under the Texas Uniform Trade Secret Act – Part 5

The Texas Uniform Trade Secret Act (TUTSA) displaces conflicting tort, restitutionary, and other law of this state providing civil remedies for misappropriation of a trade secret. Recently, the Corpus Christi Court of Appeals issued an opinion in Super Star International interpreting this provision. The Western District of Texas expanded on this opinion in Embarcadero Technologies, Inc. v. Redgate Software, Inc., No. 1:17-CV-444-RP, 2018 WL 315753 (W.D. Tex. Jan. 5, 2018).
Continue Reading Western District of Texas Issues Opinion Interpreting TUTSA Preemption Provision

The Texas Uniform Trade Secret Act (TUTSA) displaces conflicting tort, restitutionary, and other law of this state providing civil remedies for misappropriation of a trade secret. In Super Starr International, LLC v. Fresh Tex Produce, LLC, 531 S.W.3d 829 (Tex. App.—Corpus Christi July 20, 2017, no pet.), the Corpus Christi Court of Appeals offered perhaps the first interpretation of the section.
Continue Reading Corpus Christi Court Issues Opinion Interpreting Preemption Provision of the Texas Uniform Trade Secret Act

In my earlier posts, I explored the complicated definition of “misappropriation” under the Texas Uniform Trade Secret Act (TUTSA).  Litigants and courts often fail to understand all the ways a trade secret may be misappropriated.  In this post, I explore the fourth of six alternative paths to liability under TUTSA:
Continue Reading The Six Paths to Liability Under the Texas Uniform Trade Secrets Act – Part 4

In my July 16 and Sept 25 posts, I explored the complicated definition of “misappropriation” under the Texas Uniform Trade Secret Act (TUTSA).  Litigants and courts often fail to understand all the ways a trade secret may be misappropriated.  In this post, I explore the third of six alternative paths to liability under TUTSA:
Continue Reading The Six Paths to Liability Under the Texas Uniform Trade Secrets Act – Part 3

In BCOWW Holdings, LLC v. Collins, SA-17-CA-00379-FB, 2017 WL 3868184 (W.D. Tex. Sept. 5, 2017), the district court denied injunctive relief to the plaintiff who alleged its former employee was using its trade-secret information.  Plaintiff alleged that defendant misappropriated, among other things, its confidential drawings (engineering plans) and pricing information.   The court observed that these are certainly protected by the Texas Uniform Trade Secret Act (TUTSA)—if the information is kept a secret.  Plaintiff argued that it took reasonable efforts to maintain the secrecy of its information by only disclosing it to persons under an implied obligation not to use or disclose it and only on a limited basis.
Continue Reading New Case Explains that Employers Must Be Proactive if They Want to Protect Their Trade Secrets

In Realpage, Inc. v. Enter. Risk Control, LLC, 4:16-CV-00737, 2017 WL 3313729 (E.D. Tex. Aug. 3, 2017), the Eastern District of Texas explored the definition of “use” under the Texas Uniform Trade Secrets Act (“TUTSA”).  In Realpage, the Court granted a temporary injunction to the plaintiff who alleged its former employee was using its trade-secret information. Defendant argued that plaintiff had no evidence that defendant was using the alleged trade-secret information. Although plaintiff had little evidence of actual use, it argued that “use” can be implied from defendant’s quick development of its own software code that was similar to plaintiff’s.  The Court agreed.
Continue Reading Too Quick to Market: How Hiring a Competitor’s Employee to Develop a Competiting Product Could Result in an Injunction under TUTSA