The lawsuit filed by Illumina Inc., against officials with Guardant Health Inc., revolves around trade secrets allegedly misappropriated by two former Illumina employees, including Helmy Eltoukhy, who helped to found Guardant while still employed at Illumina. Among other things, the complaint states that Eltoukhy had asked another Illumina employee about research that ultimately ended up in the hands of Guardant despite that the document in question was explicitly labeled as confidential and for internal use only.

Masimo Corp. managed to obtain and uphold an injunction against True Wearables Inc. regarding a pending patent application, which Masimo said would have disclosed a trade secret for pulse oximeters. However, the injunction is only a preliminary injunction, and thus the road ahead may ultimately yield a disclosure of a trade secret that Masimo has dedicated considerable resources to protect.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has affirmed an injunction obtained by Life Spine Inc. against L&K Biomed for the latter’s alleged appropriation of trade secrets obtained by an L&K subsidiary. The outcome affirms that injunctive relief is available to plaintiffs when irreparable harm is plausibly alleged, but also highlights the need for internal controls to avoid accidental use of trade secrets during product development programs.