Lab Instrument Maker Beats Suit Over Ex-Employee’s Lamp Tech
Written August 11, 2020
The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on August 7, 2020, held that Petroleum Analyzer Co. (PA), a leading lab instrument maker, didn’t steal a former employee’s trade secrets covering a sulfur-detecting lamp. ATOM Instrument Corp. v. Petroleum Analyzer Co., 5th Cir., No. 19-20151, 8/7/20.
Franek Olstowski worked for PA as a research and development consultant and developed a lamp that detects sulfur using ultraviolet light. Olstowski created the technology on his own time in his own laboratory but performed tests and generated data using PA’s resources.
PA sued in Texas state court for a declaration that it owned the technology and lost. It then made its own lamp and Olstowski’s company argued that PA misappropriated its trade secrets.
The lower court held that PA didn’t misuse Olstowski’s technology based on physical differences between the two lamps. The Federal Circuit affirmed, finding that he couldn’t prove a “commonly used” chemical compound was protected.