Lyn-Flex West, Inc. v. Dieckhaus

24 S.W.3d 693 (1999)

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Lyn-Flex West, Inc. v. Dieckhaus

Missouri Court of Appeals
24 S.W.3d 693 (1999)

RW

Facts

Lyn-Flex West, Inc. (Lyn-Flex) (plaintiff) compiled and maintained years’ worth of confidential customer sales records in its so-called price book. Lyn-Flex employees regularly relied on price-book records to make business decisions. Lyn-Flex sued Walk Easy Manufacturing Company, Inc. (Walk Easy) and Dick Dieckhaus (defendants) for violating Missouri’s version of the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (UTSA). Lyn-Flex alleged that Dieckhaus, a former Lyn-Flex executive, took a copy of the price book with him when he left Lyn-Flex to set up Walk Easy as a rival manufacturer of shoe insoles, and that Dieckhaus used the price book to strengthen Walk Easy’s competitive position at Lyn-Flex’s expense. The trial judge ruled that the evidence failed to establish that the price book constituted a trade secret. The judge reasoned that Lyn-Flex did not take measures commonly used to protect the secrecy of confidential materials, such as marking the price book confidential or making Lyn-Flex employees sign confidentiality or noncompete agreements. The judge directed the jury’s verdict for Dieckhaus and Walk Easy. Lyn-Flex appealed to the Missouri Court of Appeals.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Simon, J.)

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