Preliminary Injunction Upheld in Case Involving Dietary Supplement Trade Secrets

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on March 5 upheld a preliminary injunction that was issued in a case asserting breach of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets, despite the fact that the alleged trade secret was nothing more than a compilation and distillation of information that was in the public domain (Daniels Health Sciences L.L.C. v. Vascular Health Sciences L.L.C., 5th Cir., 12-20599, 3/5/13).

Although many of the ingredients of a dietary supplement were publicly known, the manner in which those ingredients was combined was not common knowledge, the appeals court said. Thus, the ...