Content Management Associates, Inc. v. FMR LLC et al

Filing 45

Judge George A. OToole, Jr: ORDER entered denying 22 Motion to Compel; granting 30 Motion to Compel in accordance with this Order. (Danieli, Chris)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS
CIVIL ACTION NO. 10-11364-GAO
CONTENT MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATES, INC.,
Plaintiff,
v.
FMR LLC and FIDELITY EMPLOYER SERVICES COMPANY, LLC,
Defendants.

ORDER
February 13, 2012

O’TOOLE, D.J.
The plaintiff here must identify with reasonable particularity the trade secrets that may
have been misappropriated before it is entitled to compel discovery for its trade secrets claims.
See L-3 Commc’ns Corp. v. Reveal Imaging Techs., Inc., 18 Mass. L. Rptr. 512, 2004 WL
2915743, at *13 (Mass. Super. Ct. Dec. 2, 2004); see also Xerox Corp. v. Int’l Bus. Machs.
Corp., 64 F.R.D. 367, 371-72 (S.D.N.Y. 1974). After review of the parties’ submissions, I find
that the plaintiff has not identified its trade secrets with the necessary reasonable particularity.
The requirement to provide greater particularity balances the concerns of each party. As
for the plaintiff, there is little risk that it will jeopardize its trade secrets through greater
particularization because it already has revealed to Fidelity its system’s source code. As for the
defendants, they will receive a particular identification of the trade secrets at issue such that they
can know what they need to address in defense and seek to prevent unwarranted “fishing
expeditions.”

The current discovery deadlines are suspended. The plaintiff will have sixty days from
the date of entry of this Order to produce to the defendants the written identification of its trade
secrets. The parties will submit to the Court on or before April 23, 2012 a proposed revised
discovery schedule and will appear on April 30, 2012 at 2 P.M. in Courtroom 9 for a scheduling
conference.
Accordingly, Plaintiff’s Motion (dkt. no. 22) to Compel is DENIED without prejudice,
and Defendants’ Motion (dkt. no. 30) to Compel is GRANTED in accordance with this Order.
It is SO ORDERED.
/s/ George A. O’Toole, Jr.
United States District Judge

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