Facts

Plaintiffs, Mauricio Paba Serje, Jose David Mendoza Macanaz and Jorge Uribe, all Colombian citizens, filed suit against Defendant Simon Borrero Posada, also a Colombian citizen, for the misappropriation of trade secrets under the California Uniform Trade Secrets Act and the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act. Defendant has a digital services company, Imaginamos, based in Bogota, Colombia. Plaintiffs hired him to help them develop their phone application, Kuiky. Thereafter, Borrero launched his own phone application, Rappi, in Colombia and it is now available throughout Latin America, but it is not in the United States. Defendants also included Rappi S.A.S. the Colombian corporation that operates the business of the Rappi mobile application in Colombia, and Rappi Inc., Rappi S.A.S.'s parent company, incorporated in Delaware.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS: Plaintiffs contended that Colombian courts are incapable of adjudicating this dispute because of the case's commercial significance. Moreover, risk of corruption, compensation limitations, lengthy delays and lack of procedural mechanisms and discovery tools that bolster U.S. court efficiency are issues that Plaintiffs would have to contend with in Colombia. They further contend that Defendants did business in California by attending Y Combinator, to set up Rappi Inc., and to fundraise in Silicon Valley.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS: Defendants contend that the case has no meaningful connection with California because the alleged misappropriation occurred in Colombia, among Colombians, and concerned an application that is not available anywhere in the United States, including California. Defendants further contend that while Rappi Inc., is based incorporated in Delaware, it has no physical presence in the United States besides a mailbox in California, and did not exist at the time of the alleged misappropriation.

Result

The motion to dismiss was granted based on forum non conveniens or lack of personal jurisdiction. The court reasoned that, at its core, this case was a Colombian dispute, involving Colombian citizens, Colombian trade secrets and an application that serves Latin America. While the Rappi parent company is incorporated in Delaware, too many factors weigh towards a finding that Colombia was the appropriate jurisdiction including, but not limited, the parties, witnesses, and evidence were or are from Colombia, all documents would require translation, the difficulty in enforcing judgment and there was a criminal action based mostly on the same set of allegations that was in process in Colombia.