6-5 MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

• Jurisdiction: United States

6-5 Motion for Summary Judgment

The legal standard for summary judgment is well-established in both state and federal court.⁶³ In either venue, summary judgment is appropriate if the movant establishes that "there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law."⁶⁴ Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure "mandates the entry of summary judgment, after adequate time for discovery and upon motion, against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party's case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial."⁶⁵ Summary judgment is also appropriate when the pleadings and evidence on file show that "there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law."⁶⁶

The non-movant may not defeat a motion for summary judgment by offering con-clusory allegations, unsubstantiated assertions, "metaphysical doubt" as to the facts, or a mere scintilla of evidence.⁶⁷ Instead, the non-movant must establish a genuine dispute as to a material fact, and a dispute is genuine only if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict in that party's favor.⁶⁸

Obviously, whether a trade secret case will be dismissed on summary judgment hinges on the specific facts of the case, but some patterns do emerge in the case law. For example, the Fifth Circuit affirmed a summary judgment dismissal where the plaintiff failed to show the existence of a protectable trade secret.⁶⁹ Because general knowledge does not qualify as a trade secret, a plaintiff attempting to argue that it does will fail to meet its burden under the no-evidence motion for summary judgment.⁷⁰

Courts have also granted summary judgment where evidence of "use" is lacking.⁷¹ In one...