Trade secret verdict is over-turned as a result of lower court error

The continuing saga of Whitesell International Corporation vs. William Whitaker took another non-productive turn this week, when the jury verdict in the 2005 case was over-turned by the Court of Appeals.  Whitaker had procured a six million dollar verdict against Whitesell, however, the verdict was based in part on the trial judge's decision that the disputed Stamptech process was not a "trade secret."  The higher court determined that the judge had over-stepped the boundaries of his power in ruling that the process was not a trade secret, as he had to resolve factual issues to reach that conclusion.