Mayo Clinic Beats Dr. Elkin in Trade Secret Battle - But Jury Says it Owes Him Royalties

We blogged about this case originally back in May of 2009: http://wombletradesecrets.blogspot.com/2009/05/mayo-clinic-to-former-top-executive.html

Well, the jury in this federal lawsuit between The Mayo Clinic and Dr. Peter Elkin. The case stems from Mayo's allegations that Dr. Peter Elkin took the core code from the program he helped develop and deleted all copies from Mayo computers. Mayo said Elkin had signed over all control of the software to the clinic, as the clinic's policy dictates. Because the software is "too complex for Mayo to recreate," the complaint alleges it is completely under Elkin's control. Elkin was with Mayo Clinic until he left for a position with Mount Sinai Center for Biomedical Information in New York in August 2008, according to court records. Mayo, along with Cerner Corp., filed the lawsuit in December of 2008 against Elkin alleging breach of contract.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune is reporting that the federal jury on Wednesday found that a former high-profile researcher at the Mayo Clinic misappropriated its trade secrets and violated his employment contract when he left the Rochester health care giant for a better job in New York City.

After four hours of deliberation in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, the jury also ordered Mayo to pay Dr. Peter Elkin $143,222 in royalties for medical record-keeping software that he developed while working there. Elkin claimed Mayo owes him up to $520,000.

We will report back upon learning of any appeals.