By Ross Todd Published: 08.04.2016
Ninth Circuit Sides With App Developer in Trade Secrets Fight
SAN FRANCISCO—The Ninth Circuit won’t short circuit a
suit brought by a San Francisco startup that accuses French telecom giant
Orange S.A. of stealing its technology for making phone calls over social media
after acquisition talks fizzled.
Lawyers for Orange at Foley Hoag and Durie Tangri had
argued that Telesocial’s suit should be shut down because a nondisclosure
agreement that the companies signed during their negotiations included a forum
selection clause routing disputes to the Court of Paris. U.S. Senior Circuit
Judge J. Clifford Wallace, however, wrote that the district judge overseeing
the case was not required to defer to the forum selection clause in a dispute
that emerged from events after deal talks broke down.
Renee Bea of Singer/Bea LLP, who represents
Telesocial, called Friday’s opinion “a critical decision” for U.S. tech
companies that draw interest from companies abroad.