Manitowoc Crane has won another stage in its legal battle with Sany for stealing trade secrets.

Judge William Griesbach of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin has ruled in its favour in its trade secrets misappropriation lawsuit against Sany regarding Manitowoc’s Variable Position Counterweight (VPC) technology.

The judge ruled on Summary Judgment that Sany was liable for trade secret misappropriation under Wisconsin law. His ruling was based upon previous findings by the International Trade Commission and the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

The ITC ruled in a Final Determination in April, 2015 that Sany misappropriated multiple trade secrets of Manitowoc in connection with its SCC8500 crane and issued an Exclusion and a Cease and Desist Order preventing Sany from importing the SCC8500 for 10 years. These findings were affirmed by the court of appeals in October, 2016 without opinion. This cleared Manitowoc to pursue an action in United States District Court seeking damages and injunctive relief from Sany.

As a result of this latest decision, Sany is both precluded from challenging the protectability of Manitowoc’s trade secrets and is liable for trade secret misappropriation under Wisconsin state law.

The case is scheduled for trial in 2019.

Credits : vertikal.net