FTC Lawsuit Results in Subpoenaed Trade Secret Info That Itself Might Get Subpoenaed in Another Case

We first blogged about the Whole Foods trade secret subpoenas to competitors issue here: http://wombletradesecrets.blogspot.com/2008/12/grocery-secrets-whole-foods-obtains.html.

Remember too that the FTC had fumbled with some trade secrets earlier in the matter, as we noted when another competitor objected to the subpoena: "The FTC accidentally disclosed confidential business information earlier in the case, while other sensitive information was given to a Whole Foods in-house lawyer, New Seasons said. An FTC administrative law judge rejected New Seasons' request Tuesday, saying its information would be protected and that turning it over was not an undue burden. "The implied allegations that Whole Foods may be using the document requests to gain a competitive advantage over New Seasons are without support," wrote Administrative Law Judge D. Michael Chappell."

Well, a new lawsuit has arisen - and the plaintiffs want the same information. Click here: http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/06/16/ap6550147.html. Forbes is reporting that an existing protective order exists in the FTC matter - so the FTC administrative law judge apparently is going to have a new issue on his plate now.

We'll keep an eye on this one for you.