Lamb-Weston, Inc. v. McCain Foods, Ltd. McCain Foods, Inc.

Lamb-Weston’s attempt to spiral ahead of its competitors was allegedly thwarted by the misappropriation by McCain of Lamb-Weston’s trade secrets for manufacturing curlicue french fries. To keep Lamb-Weston from being left to twist in the wind before the trial on the merits, an eight-month preliminary injunction was imposed, barring McCain from producing or selling products made with the technology in question. McCain appeals and we affirm.

I

Lamb-Weston, a potato processor, began in 1986 to develop the technology for producing curlicue french fries. The unique process involved a helical blade and water-feed system. McCain, a competitor, began work on a manufacturing process for curlicue fries in 1989.

In January 1990, McCain approached several Lamb-Weston employees to help its development. At that time, Richard Liver-more, who had helped create the Lamb-Weston blade and process, allegedly gave McCain a copy of Lamb-Weston’s confidential patent application. Livermore later went to work for McCain. Subsequently, Jerry Ross, the independent contractor who fabricated the Lamb-Weston blade, was hired by McCain to craft a helical blade for it. McCain left the decisions about the…