H.B. Fuller Wins Preliminary Injunction on Noncompete Agreement Only; Unlikely to Prevail on Trade Secrets Claim
The District Court of Minnesota granted a partial preliminary injunction in H.B. Fuller Co. v. Mooney, 2007 WL 1827240 (D. Minn. 6/22/07).
H.B. Fuller is an adhesive manufacturer that operates in 34 countries. Mooney, a strategic manager, signed a noncompete agreement. However, he took a job at Coim USA, one of H.B Fuller's competitors. Mooney took with him customer files and copied thousands of computer files. Fuller filed suit for breach of the noncompete agreement and trade secret misappropriation.
The court partially granted the preliminary injunction. Mooney is enjoined from disclosing information about Fuller's customers or strategies, but he is permitted to continue his employment at Coim USA. Moreover, the court based the injunction on the noncompete agreement claim; the court found that H.B. Fuller failed to show a likelihood of success on the trade secret claim. The preliminary injunction only has an initial term of 3 months and still commanded a $40,000 bond.
