Quintara Biosciences, Inc. v. Ruifeng Biztech Inc.
Opinion
Trial Court Opinion
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
QUINTARA BIOSCIENCES, INC., Plaintiff, No. C 20-04808
v.
RUIFENG BIZTECH INC., et al., RESPONSE BY DISTRICT COURT
TO MANDAMUS PETITION
Defendants.
15 16 Our Court of Appeals has invited a response to the issues presented in Quintara Biosciences, Inc.’s petition for a writ of mandamus regarding discovery procedures used in trade secret cases before the undersigned judge. Two points are worth discussing. First, trade secret cases are especially susceptible to pleading chicanery. Experience has shown that it is all too easy for a plaintiff to allege trade secrets with calculated vagueness, then use discovery to redefine the trade secrets to be whatever is found in defendant’s files. To ensure fair and efficient resolution of disputes, courts have a distinct interest in preventing parties from taking a shifting-sands approach to trade secret claims. California has addressed this recurring problem statutorily with Section 2019.210 of the…