San Francisco firm helps company win trade secrets case

A San Franciso law firm turned its defense of a major trade secrets lawsuit into an offensive win this week in Texas.

Faced with $85.7 million in potential damages against San Jose-based client CNEX Labs Inc. for claims including trade secret misappropriation and RICO violations, Farella Braun & Martel LLP filed a counterclaim based on information found during discovery.

A federal jury in Texas on Wednesday rejected the original claim and found in favor of the counterclaim, following a three-week trial before U.S. District Judge Amos L. Mazzant III.

Mazzant entered a judgment Thursday that said Huawei and CNEX will take nothing and pay their own legal costs.

Plaintiff Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., a Chinese technology company, and its subsidiary, Futurewei Technologies Inc., were represented by attorneys at Siebman, Burg, Phillips & Smith LLP, including Clyde M. Siebman and Elizabeth Forrest.

According to the verdict, the jury ruled Futurewei proved defendant and ex-Futurewei employee Yiren "Ronnie" Huang, who co-founded CNEX, failed to comply with a patent disclosure agreement, but the company didn't prove it was harmed by the breach.

Jurors also found Huawei misappropriated CNEX's trade secrets while Futurewei did not, but CNEX hadn't shown either Huawei or Futurewei were "unjustly enriched" because of it. Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. v. CNEX Labs Inc., 17-CV00893 (E.D. Texas, filed (Dec. 28, 2017).

In a press release, Farella partner Jeffrey M. Fisher said the eight jurors "saw through Huawei's attempts to use the court system to bully CNEX."

Fisher and Farella partner Eugene Y. Mar's trial team included Daniel Callaway, Stephanie P. Skaff, Jeffrey G. Lau and Nadia C. Arid, as well as Deron Dacus of the Dacus Law Firm.

-- Meghann M. Cuniff