Freeman Investment Management Co., Inc. v. Frank Russell Company (Ninth Circuit)

Appellant FIMCO asserted claims for breach of the parties’ nondisclosure agreement (NDA) and misappropriation of trade secrets arising out of Russell’s development of a style index that incorporated volatility, among other attributes.  FIMCO claimed that Russell stole the idea of using volatility to predict stock performance from a FIMCO White Paper, which advocated a 100% volatility index.  The district court granted summary judgment in our client (Russell’s) favor, given that FIMCO refused to identify any of its 492 claimed trade secret with reasonable particularity, that many of the alleged trade secrets were common knowledge, that Russell independently developed the idea of incorporating volatility in a style index well before it received FIMCO’s White Paper, and FIMCO failed to establish that any information qualified as “Confidential” under the terms of the parties’ NDA.

Briefs

Brief of Appellee