The state Superior Court has instructed a Potter County judge to calculate attorney fees in favor of the defense related to two trade secrets claims that the plaintiffs agreed to withdraw prior to prevailing before a jury in the remainder of their lawsuit.
A party seeking attorney fees under Pennsylvania’s Uniform Trade Secrets Act the PUTSA must prove bad faith, the standard for which the majority of the split Superior Court panel acknowledged was an issue of first impression in this state. And, while the court applied a test developed in California federal courts to resolve the case at bar, the majority declined to further adopt the two-pronged test as applicable to all PUTSA claims where a party alleges bad faith in seeking counsel fees.
