Bestechnologies, Inc. v. Trident Environmental System, Inc., 96-03307
| Decision Date | 11 October 1996 |
| Docket Number | No. 96-03307,96-03307 |
| Citation | 681 So.2d 1175 |
| Parties | 21 Fla. L. Weekly D2212 BESTECHNOLOGIES, INC., Petitioner, v. TRIDENT ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEM, INC., f/k/a Probac International Corporation, a Florida corporation; Environmental Biotech, Inc., a Florida corporation; and William Hadley, Respondents. Second District |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Lisa Elwell Bagwell of Blalock, Landers, Walters & Vogler, P.A., Bradenton, for Petitioner.
Andre R. Perron of Ozark & Perron, P.A., Bradenton, for Respondent Trident Environmental System, Inc., f/k/a Probac International Corporation.
Daniel Joy of Joy & Moran, P.A., Sarasota, for Respondents Environmental Biotech, Inc., and William Hadley.
Bestechnologies, Inc., petitions this court for a writ of certiorari to quash an order requiring certain questions to be answered at a deposition of one of its employees. We deny the petition based upon our understanding of the trial court's confidentiality order.
Bestechnologies is not a party to the action in the circuit court. In that action, Trident Environmental Systems, Inc., f/n/a Probac International, has alleged that Environmental Biotech, Inc. (EBI), and William Hadley have misappropriated its trade secret. The trade secret involves a grease remediation system using particular bacteria, identified in the public record as serratia marcescens and serratia plymuthica. Through discovery, EBI seeks to develop evidence that such a bacterial process is not a trade secret, but rather, is a common process known to other competitors in this narrow field. EBI has deposed an employee of Bestechnologies to determine whether that company uses such bacteria in its grease remediation system. The witness refused to answer the questions at issue in this proceeding.
Without conducting an evidentiary hearing, the trial court ordered Bestechnologies' employee to answer questions concerning that company's knowledge and use of these bacteria. The court ruled that the discovery must remain confidential pending further order of the court. Bestechnologies filed this petition for certiorari in an effort to quash the trial court's order.
The definition of a "trade secret" in the Uniform Trade Secrets Act, includes "information" that "derives independent economic value, actual or potential, from not being generally known to, and not being readily ascertainable by proper means by, other persons who can obtain economic value from its disclosure," so long as the entity with the trade secret makes "efforts that are reasonable under the circumstances to maintain its secrecy." See § 688.002(4), Fla. Stat. (1995). Under this definition, the fact that several competitors each independently use a process...
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