USE OF INJUNCTION TO PROTECT TRADE SECRETS
When a company wants to prevent someone from misappropriating its trade secrets and confidential information, it can file a lawsuit in the Delaware Court of Chancery to obtain a preliminary injunction. A preliminary injunction is considered to be an extraordinary remedy that is granted sparingly. In order to convince the Court to issue a preliminary injunction, you have to show:
(1) a reasonable probability of success on the merits at a final hearing;
(2) an imminent threat of irreparable injury; and
(3) a balancing of the equities tips in its favor.
“Irreparable injury” exists where the injury can’t be adequately compensated by money damages and that to refuse the injunction would be a denial of justice.
A “balancing of the equities” means that the Court decides whether the imposition of a preliminary injunction will result in less harm to the defendants than the harm the plaintiff will suffer if the Court denies the request for an injunction, taking into account the parties' respective probabilities of success on the merits.
