Another Big Verdict – Utah Style

We’ll own up to it. Our favorite cases are the big trade secrets cases. Think Bratz or Hilton.

For sheer dollars, though, this one out of state court in Utah is right up with those. The report is from the Salt Lake Tribune.

The scenario is a familiar one: Company A seeks bids to build a power plant and Company B, under a non-disclosure agreement, submits its proposal. Company A decides to pull the bidding and awards the contract to itself.

Many years and one trade secrets lawsuit later, Company A finds itself on the wrong side of $134 million verdict based on the contention that it used Company B’s trade secrets to build the power plant.

Company A is PacifiCorp (doing business in Utah as Rocky Mountain Power) and Company B is USA Power.

Now USA Power wants to double the verdict to $267 million.

That’s a big one by trade secrets standards and we’ll let you know how it turns out.