Bayer Corp. v. Roche Molecular Systems, Inc.
United States District Court for the Northern District of California
72 F. Supp. 2d 1111 (1999)
- Written by Sarah Hoffman, JD
Facts
Bayer Corporation (plaintiff) and Roche Molecular Systems, Inc. (Roche) (defendant) both created products used to measure HIV in blood samples. Pete Betzelos worked for Bayer as a marketing manager related to Bayer’s product. He then left and took a similar position at Roche. Betzelos’s employment contract with Roche stated that he would not disclose any of Bayer’s trade secrets. Bayer filed suit against Roche seeking an injunction that would prevent Betzelos from working for Roche in a capacity related to the sale of its competing HIV-detection product. Bayer filed a motion for preliminary injunction requesting that Betzelos be immediately enjoined from continuing his employment with Roche. In favor of the motion, Bayer argued that disclosure of its trade secrets was inevitable if Betzelos was allowed to continue working in the position with Roche.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Alsup, J.)
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