Easthampton, New Hampshire -- A US company has been ordered to pay around $8 million in costs, fees and damages after losing a trade secrets case in court, according to local reports.
Stevens Urethane, a division of JPS Elastomerics Corp., must pay the fees after one of its executives, James Galica was found guilty of stealing a manufacturing technique from his former employer, the Connecticut-based Specialised Technology Resources Inc. (STR). In 2007, Stevens introduced a low shrink encapsulant, a protective plastic film, for solar panels, which was derived from an STR product, according to the trial judge.
Hampshire Superior Court Judge Constance Sweeney, who presided over the trial, entered her final judgement assessing the costs at the end of Jan, local newspaper reports said.
Stevens and Galica are liable to pay around $8 million, including about $2.2 million in punitive damages and about $5 million in attorney's fees and costs.
Sweeney issued a final injunction on the defendants, forbidding them from using the stolen technology and banned them from selling any "low shrink" encapsulant products for five years.
Anthony Burns, company controller at Stevens Urethane, told UTI that the company were appealing the decision and said: "We expect our appeal to be vindicated." LMH
"
