MicroStrategy v. Business Objects
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
369 F. Supp. 2d 725 (2005)

- Written by Rich Walter, JD
Facts
A federal district court found that three years earlier, Business Objects, S.A. (defendant) had misappropriated software-related trade secrets belonging to MicroStrategy, Inc. (plaintiff). The court entered a permanent injunction barring Business Objects from further use of the misappropriated information. Nine months later, Business Objects returned to court and moved to dissolve the injunction on the grounds that the misappropriated information no longer deserved injunctive protection as trade secrets. Business Objects argued that trade secrets quickly grow stale in the fast-moving software industry. The evidence Business Objects introduced in support of its motion was mostly conclusory, but it did establish that MicroStrategy was using negative perceptions created by the injunction to browbeat Business Objects in the marketplace.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Friedman, J.)
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