Ferber v. Sterndent Corp.
| Decision Date | 07 October 1980 |
| Citation | 51 N.Y.2d 782,412 N.E.2d 1311,433 N.Y.S.2d 85 |
| Parties | , 412 N.E.2d 1311 Jack R. FERBER, Appellant, v. STERNDENT CORPORATION et al., Respondents et al., Defendants. |
| Court | New York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
The order of the Appellate Division should be affirmed, 73 A.D.2d 590, 422 N.Y.S.2d 131, with costs.
As the court below found, plaintiff failed to produce any evidence to support his claim that the idea which he disclosed to defendants was novel either in the abstract or as to them. In order to successfully oppose a motion for summary judgment, plaintiff must come forward with some admissible proof that would require a trial of the material questions of fact on which his claim rests. Absent a showing of novelty, plaintiff's action to recover damages for illegal use of "confidentially disclosed ideas" must fail as a matter of law. (See Downey v. General Foods Corp., 31 N.Y.2d 56, 334 N.Y.S.2d 874, 286 N.E.2d 257.)
Moreover, prior to any alleged use of plaintiff's idea by defendants, two patents had been issued to unrelated third parties for devices which encompassed the very concepts plaintiff alleges he disclosed to defendants. Therefore, even if we were to assume that plaintiff's idea was novel when disclosed, all novelty was lost with the issuance of these patents because they caused plaintiff's idea to fall into the public domain. (See Platzman v. American Totalisator Co., 45 N.Y.2d 910, 411 N.Y.S.2d 230, 383 N.E.2d 876.) Therefore, summary judgment for defendants was properly granted.
Order affirmed.
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Mayer v. Josiah Wedgwood & Sons, Ltd.
...Co., 440 F.2d 986, 987 (2d Cir.1971); Ferber v. Sterndent Corp., 73 A.D.2d 590, 422 N.Y.S.2d 131 (1979), aff'd 51 N.Y.2d 782, 433 N.Y.S.2d 85, 412 N.E.2d 1311 (1980). The publication of the design removed it from the realm of the secret and confidential. There can be no action for breach of......
-
Apollo Technologies v. Centrosphere Indus.
...or general knowledge in an industry cannot be trade secrets. Sheridan, 568 F.Supp. at 1352 (citing Ferber v. Sterndent Corp., 51 N.Y.2d 782, 783-84, 433 N.Y.S.2d 85, 412 N.E.2d 1311 (1980)); Delta Filter, 108 A.D.2d at 992, 485 N.Y.S.2d at 144; see also Restatement (First) of Torts § 757 co......
-
Telerate Systems, Inc. v. Caro
...the STP was revealed to various outside parties. Although a trade secret cannot be widely known, see Ferber v. Sterndent Corp., 51 N.Y.2d 782, 433 N.Y.S.2d 85, 412 N.E.2d 1311 (1980), absolute secrecy is not required. See Sheridan, supra, 568 F.Supp. at 1352; Q-Co, supra, 625 F.Supp. at 617......
-
Cargill, Inc. v. Sears Petroleum & Transport Corp.
...of damages for a claimed misappropriation of a trade secret forming the basis for the patent. Ferber v. Sterndent Corp., 51 N.Y.2d 782, 784, 412 N.E.2d 1311, 1312, 433 N.Y.S.2d 85, 86 (1980); Conmar Prods. Corp. v. Universal Slide Fastener Co., 172 F.2d 150, 155-56 (2d Cir.1949). Any recove......