Trade secret and breach of contract dispute resolved with favorable settlement for Finnegan client Meati Foods

Finnegan represented Emergy, Inc., d/b/a Meati Foods in a trade secret misappropriation, breach of contract, and correction of inventorship case against The Better Meat Company (BMC) and Augustus Pattillo involving alternative meat made from mycelium.

Emergy alleged that Augustus Pattillo stole its trade secrets on the cultivation and production of mycelium that he learned while working as a lab technician for Emergy’s founders, misused them in his work with BMC, breached his nondisclosure agreement with Emergy, and improperly filed patent applications on Emergy’s technology and assigned them to BMC.

BMC filed claims of tortious interference and unfair competition against Emergy, which Emergy succeeded in striking under California’s anti-Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP) statute. After prevailing under the anti-SLAPP statute, Emergy was statutorily entitled to recover its reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs for defending against BMC’s stricken claims of tortious interference and unfair competition

Early in the litigation, Emergy defeated BMC’s motion to dismiss Emergy’s trade secret misappropriation and breach of implied contract claims. Emergy later defeated BMC’s motion for summary judgment on Emergy’s trade secret misappropriation, breach of contract, and breach of implied contract claims. The case settled soon after the Court issued its summary judgment ruling.