Elation Systems, Inc. v. Fenn Bridge LLC

Discussion. found that defendants had breached the Settlement Agreement, but that Elation had suffered no harm. Following the jury verdict, Elation filed a motion that included a request for entry of a permanent injunction against defendants. Defendants then filed a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV), challenging (1) the jury’s finding on harm and award of damages for the NDA claim; and (2) the jury’s finding of breach on the Settlement Agreement claim. The trial court granted the JNOV motion and denied Elation’s motion for injunctive relief. Defendants subsequently filed a motion for attorney fees pursuant to Civil Code section 1717. 1 The court entered judgment awarding defendants $700,000 in attorney fees. In this consolidated appeal, Elation challenges (1) the JNOV order; and (2) the judgment awarding attorney fees to defendants. In the published portion of this opinion, we conclude the trial court should have awarded Elation nominal damages on its NDA claim, as defendants’ JNOV motion did not challenge the jury’s finding that Shi breached the NDA. In the unpublished portion, we conclude that substantial evidence did not support the jury’s finding in…