Section Partners Management, LLC v. EquityBee, Inc.

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

SECTION PARTNERS MANAGEMENT, Case No. 23-cv-05030-VC

LLC,

Plaintiff, ORDER DENYING MOTION TO

DISMISS

v. Re: Dkt. No.

EQUITYBEE, INC.,

Defendant.

EquityBee’s Motion to Dismiss is denied. This ruling assumes the reader is familiar with the allegations in the complaint, the arguments made by the parties, and the applicable legal standard. EquityBee first argues that Section Partners has failed to adequately allege that it has a trade secret because most of the characteristics of the trade secret are features of well-known investment vehicles like variable prepaid forward contracts that are already generally known to the public. See Cal. Civ. Code § 3426.1; 18 U.S.C. § 1839(3)(B). But Section Partners alleges that the combination of the specific features is what makes the trade secret. See United States v. Nosal, 844 F.3d 1024, 1042 (9th Cir. 2016) (“A compilation that affords a competitive advantage and is not readily ascertainable falls within the definition of a trade secret.”); O2 Micro International Ltd. v. Monolithic Power Systems, Inc., 420 F. Supp. 2d 1070, 1089–90 (N.D. Cal. 2006)…