Proofpoint, Inc. v. Vade Secure, Incorporated

Background

Proofpoint, Inc. and Cloudmark, LLC sued Vade Secure, Incorporated, Vade Secure SASU, and Olivier Lemarié. The defendants moved to partially dismiss the complaint. The motion targeted Count I, one of the complaint’s five causes of action, which alleged misappropriation of trade secrets under the Defend Trade Secrets Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1836.

The complaint alleged that Cloudmark developed a combination of technical features, including behavioral analysis and machine learning, heuristic rules, statistical models and scoring, real-time cloud-based threat analysis, and integration with Microsoft Office 365. It alleged that Lemarié designed and developed this combination while employed by Cloudmark. The complaint further alleged that, after Lemarié left Cloudmark, he began working as Vade’s chief technology officer, and Vade later sold a product incorporating techniques and technology previously developed by Lemarié and his Cloudmark team.

Court’s Analysis

The court held that the plaintiffs described the alleged trade secrets sufficiently. In the court’s view, the complaint identified a particular combination of technical features and therefore gave the defendants adequate notice of the information claimed to be secret.

The court also held that the plaintiffs alleged enough facts to allow a reasonable inference of misappropriation. The allegations concerning Lemarié’s employment with Cloudmark, his later position at Vade, and similarities between the technology developed at Cloudmark and Vade’s competing product supported that inference at the motion-to-dismiss stage.

Ruling

Judge Maxine M. Chesney denied the defendants’ motion to partially dismiss the plaintiffs’ complaint. The order did not dismiss Count I. The court decided the matter based on the parties’ written submissions and vacated the hearing scheduled for November 8, 2019.