Insurer Revives Trade Secrets Claim Against Executive, Directors

The Fourth Circuit revived an insurance company’s claims that a former chief technical officer and two company shareholders stole proprietary software to start a competing business.

Samuel Sherbrooke Corporate Ltd. plausibly alleged that it sufficiently strived to keep its proprietary software secret, contrary to a district court ruling, the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled Tuesday. The three-judge panel had “no trouble concluding” that the employee contracts signed by the defendants protected the software as proprietary and confidential.

The precedential opinion by Circuit Judge Stephanie D. Thacker revives Sherbrooke’s claims against minority shareholders Gabriel Mayer and Joseph ...