Uniroyal Goodrich Tire v. Eddings

Full title: UNIROYAL GOODRICH TIRE COMPANY, A FOREIGN CORPORATION, PETITIONER, v…

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District

Date published: May 8, 1996

673 So. 2d 131 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1996)

Opinion

No. 95-3755.

May 8, 1996.

Petition for writ of certiorari to the Circuit Court of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, Palm Beach County; Harold J. Cohen, Judge. L.T. Case No. CL 92-6013 AC.

Steven J. Rothman and Mark B. Kleinfeld of Jones, Foster, Johnston Stubbs, P.A., West Palm Beach, and Kenneth J. Moran and Roberta Mowery Ward of McGuire, Woods, Battle Boothe, L.L.P., Richmond, Virginia, for petitioner.

Philip M. Burlington of Caruso, Burlington, Bohn Compiani, P.A., and Jeffrey M. Liggio of Liggio Luckman, West Palm Beach, for respondents.

PER CURIAM.

Petitioner, Uniroyal Goodrich Tire Company (U.G.T.C.), seeks a writ of certiorari from the trial court's order granting respondents' Eddings, etc., et al, motion to compel discovery of what it claims is a highly proprietary trade secret manual.

We grant the petition for writ of certiorari and quash the order compelling the petitioner U.G.T.C. to produce the current quality assurance manual for U.G.T.C.'s Opelika, Alabama, manufacturing plant. Upon remand the trial court shall conduct an in camera hearing and inspection of the manual in question or alternatively an evidentiary hearing to determine whether the manual is a trade secret. See Rare Coin-It, Inc. v. I.J.E., Inc., 625 So.2d 1277, 1278-1279 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993):

When trade secret privilege is asserted as the basis for resisting production, the trial court must determine whether the requested production constitutes a trade secret; if so, the court must require the party seeking production to show reasonable necessity for the requested materials. . . . If production is then ordered, the court must set forth its findings.

(Citations omitted.)

Certiorari Granted.

STONE, PARIENTE and SHAHOOD, JJ., concur.