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A years-long dispute over infrared camera technology culminated in a jury trial victory for Brewer, Attorney & Counselors’ client, the infrared technology company FLIR Systems, Inc.
In 2007, Raytheon sued FLIR and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Indigo Systems Corporation, for hundreds of millions of dollars in damages for the alleged misappropriation of 31 alleged trade secrets relating to the production of infrared cameras.
During a 17-day trial in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, FLIR introduced evidence of numerous patents and public disclosures to disprove the existence of valid trade secrets. FLIR employees and other industry witnesses also demonstrated that Raytheon’s misappropriation claims were without merit.
In addition, FLIR provided documentation of the lengthy brainstorming and experimentation FLIR employees undertook to develop its assembly processes independently. The evidence also demonstrated that the parties used dramatically different recipes.
On November 24, 2014, an 11-person jury deliberated for just a few hours before siding with FLIR. The jury determined unanimously that FLIR did not misappropriate any trade secrets, as had been alleged. Furthermore, the jury found that 27 of the 31 alleged trade secrets were, in fact, not trade secrets. Importantly, Raytheon was entitled to no damages from FLIR and Indigo.
The jury verdict validated FLIR’s position that Raytheon lacked valid trade secrets, and that FLIR independently developed its infrared camera technology and processes. FLIR’s position was further validated first by the trial court’s denial of Raytheon’s post-trial motions, and then by the United States Court of Appeals for The Federal Circuit, which affirmed the jury verdict by denying Raytheon’s post-trial motions. The Federal Circuit published its precedential opinion on July 12, 2018.
The case was titled Raytheon Company v. Indigo Systems Corp., et al.
