Declaration

Cal. Super. - 6th Dist.March 24, 2021

1 || Michael G. Ackerman, Esq. (SBN 64997) LAW OFFICES OF MICHAEL G. ACKERMAN 2 || 2391 The Alameda, Suite 100 Santa Clara, CA 95050 3 |! Telephone: (408) 261-5800 4 Facsimile: (408) 261-5900 Email: mga@mgackermanlaw.com 5 6 || Attorneys for Defendant, PANIDA CHINSUPAKUL 7 8 9 SUPERIOR COURT FOR THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA 10 COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA 11 12 || ANNE TING, an individual; JACK TING, ) Case No.: 21CV381110 an individual; and NICOLE TING-YAP, an ) 13 || individual: ) ) SUPPLEMENTAL DECLARATION OF 14 Plaintiffs, ) MICHAEL G. ACKERMAN IN SUPPORT ) OF MOTION TO COMPEL RESPONSES 15 VS. ) TO REQUESTS FOR PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS 16 PANIDA CHINSUPAKUL, an individual; ) 17 | and DOES 1 through 10; ) ) Date: 12/16/2021 18 ) Time: 9:00 a.m. Defendants. ) Dept.: 7 19 ) Judge: Hon. Christopher G. Rudy ) 20 ) ----“(i‘“‘“‘“ ‘ié‘“‘C;CCC*?S 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 -l- SUPPLEMENTAL DECLARATION OF MICHAEL G. ACKERMAN IN SUPPORT OF OF MOTION TO COMPEL CASE NO.: 21CV381110 Electronically Filed by Superior Court of CA, County of Santa Clara, on 12/8/2021 12:53 PM Reviewed By: R. Aragon Case #21CV381110 Envelope: 7819783 21CV381110 Santa Clara - Civil R. Aragon I I, Michael G. Ackerman, declare that I am the attorney for defendant Panida Chinsupakul in 2 || the above-entitled matter and make this declaration of my own personal knowledge. 3 l. Attached hereto as Exhibit "A" is a true and correct copy of the trade secret disclosure 4 || that was served in this matter on behalf of all of the Plaintiffs. 5 I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing is 6 || true and correct and that this declaration was executed in the City of Santa Clara, State of California, 7 | on December Ba. 2021, 4 8 | V4 Vie | 9 by. Lz / oC 10 ICHAEL @. ACKERMAN, Attorney for 1 efendant/PANIDA CHINSUPAKUL 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 ee SUPPLEMENTAL DECLARATION OF MICHAEL G. ACKERMAN IN SUPPORT OF OF MOTION TO COMPEL CASE NO.: 21CV381110 1 || SCOTT C. HALL (State Bar No. 232492) SKYE LANGS (State Bar No. 287908) 2 |} EMLYN MANDEL (State Bar No. 310403) COBLENTZ PATCH DUFFY & BASS LLP 3 |j One Montgomery Street, Suite 3000 San Francisco, California 94104-5500 , 4 || Telephone: 415.391.4800 Facsimile: 415.989.1663 5 || Email: ef-sch@cpdb.com fe) ef-sdl1@cpdb.com iM 6 ef-erm@coblentzlaw.com 4) 3 7 || Attorneys for Plaintiffs 7 ANNE TING, JACK TING, o 8 || and NICOLE TING-YAP ¢ & 9 ao? oI zn 10 SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA Hoe ; ” 6 ; 11 COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA : Ma we 0 12 || ANNE TING, an individual; JACK TING, Case No. 21CV381110 > <0 an individual; and NICOLE TING-YAP, nyt 13 || an individual, PLAINTIFFS’ TRADE SECRET Dzq DISCLOSURE STATEMENT ; Ay 14 Plaintiffs, PURSUANT TO C.C.P. § 2019.210 = 0 . r 3 9 15 v. oO i. wi 16 ||] PANIDA CHINSUPAKUL, an individual; E 30 and DOES 1 through 10, i 0 17 Action Filed: March 24, 2021 aus Defendants. Trial Date: None Set av . On 18 On . > 19 z ° 20 Pursuant to California Code of Civil Procedure Section 2019.210, Plaintiffs Anne Ting, 8 21 |! Jack Ting, and Nicole Ting-Yap hereby identify the confidential and proprietary trade secrets that Z 22 || were stolen from them without their consent. 23 This designation is without prejudice to Plaintiffs’ rights to amend this disclosure for any 24 | reason. Plaintiffs expressly reserve their right to amend these disclosures if they discover that 25 || Defendant has obtained additional trade secrets from Plaintiffs without their consent, or if they 26 || discover that Defendant disclosed or intends to disclose additional trade secrets that she obtained 27 || from Plaintiffs. (See Vacco Industries, Inc. v. Van Den Berg (1992) 5 Cal.App.4th 34, 46 51 nl6; 28 || Neothermia Corp. v. Rubicor Medical, Inc. (N.D. Cal. 2004) 345 F Supp.2d 1042, 1044.) 18786.001 4827-1630-7187.1 1] Case No. 21CV381110 _--~-~”~~s PLAINTIFFS’ TRADE SECRET DISCLOSURE STATEMENT > aff, - rot VAC. 1 The fact that Plaintiffs have not specifically identify in this disclosure particular documents 2 || or information as a trade secret does not give Defendant permission to use or disclose it, since this 3 || information was illegally acquired from Plaintiffs and is the subject of additional claims for 4 || conversion, invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and a violation of 5 || Penal Code Section 502. Moreover, any use or disclosure of the information Defendant obtained S 6 || from Plaintiffs without their permission is currently prohibited under the terms of the Temporary g 7 || Restraining Order in this action, regardless of its status as a trade secret. S 8IlI. | BACKGROUND OF DISPUTE 1 ; 9 Between approximately October of 2019 and October of 2020, Defendant accessed and 7 3 n 10 || obtained copies of Plaintiffs’ personal, confidential, and proprietary information, without their ® 8 ; 11 || knowledge and consent, from password-protected computer devices. Defendant later shared this 4 3 a 12 || information with third parties. t é ¢ 13 Upon discovery of the theft, Plaintiffs filed suit, alleging claims for conversion, invasion a i : 14 || of privacy, violations of California Penal Code Section 502, and intentional infliction of emotional ® 3 9 15 || distress. Additionally, because a subset of the stolen data contained trade secret information, x ¥ z 16 || Plaintiffs also brought a trade secret misappropriation claim. 5 5 ° 17 || U1. PURPOSE OF TRADE SECRET DISCLOSURE STATEMENT ° : ¢ 18 The purpose of the trade secret disclosure statement is not to prove, or disprove, the : 19 || existence of an alleged trade secret. (Brescia v. Angelin (2009) 172 Cal.App.4th 133, 149.) ; 20 || Rather, the disclosure is intended to (1) discourage the filing of meritless complaints, (2) prevent 3 21 || plaintiffs from using discovery to obtain the trade secrets of others, (3) identify the proper scope Z 22 || of discovery, (4) allow defendants to prepare a defense. (id. at 144.) 23 To achieve these goals, the disclosure must describe the trade secrets “with sufficient 24 || particularity to separate it from matters of general knowledge in the trade or of special knowledge 25 || of those persons who are skilled in the trade, and to permit the defendant to ascertain at least the 26 || boundaries within which the secret lies.” (Whyte v. Schlage Lock Co. (2002) 101 Cal.App.4th 27 || 1443, 1453 (quoting Diodes, Inc. v. Franzen (1968) 260 Cal.App.2d 244, 253).) A disclosure is 28 || sufficient if it allows the defendant to “identify and understand” the protected information. (/d.} 18786.001 4827-1630-7187.1 2 Case No. 21CV381110 _. PLAINTIFFS’ TRADE SECRET DISCLOSURE STATEMENT SOS 1 || The level of specificity required depends on the facts of the case, the nature of the trade secret, and 2 || the specific allegations of misappropriation at issue. (Brescia, 172 Cal.App.4th at 152.) “The 3 || identification is to be liberally construed, and reasonable doubts concerning its sufficiency are to 4 || be resolved in favor of allowing discovery to commence.” (Id.) 5 The disclosures provided below satisfy this standard, and identify Plaintiffs’ trade secrets 3 6 || with sufficient particularity to enable Defendant to investigate the trade secret misappropriation 3 7 || claims against her. a 8 A. Furniture Design Information 2 z 9 Plaintiff Nicole Ting-Yap has designed a line of furniture for use in a condominium project 5 ; nm 10 || that is currently in development. The furniture designs are a trade secret that belong to Nicole 2 3 ; 11 || Ting-Yap personally, and were stored on her password-protected partition of the server located in 5 o a 12 || the home of Defendant. i : . 13 The trade secret furniture design information includes: A a i 14 1. Designs for a complete collection of home furnishings, including but not limited to ° 8 9 15 || tables, chairs, laps, bookshelves, sofas, coffee tables, dining room tables, side tables, bed frames, ‘ ¥ ‘ 16 || bathroom accessories, mirrors, and stools; 5 é * 17 2. Unique proportions for the size, shape, and scale of the furniture; and 8 : . 18 3. High-end and super-luxurious materials and finishes not currently available on the > 19 || market for furniture of this type or style. ; 20 Plaintiff Nicole Ting-Yap personally designed the details of these furnishings, and has 3 21 || taken measures to protect the secrecy and confidentiality of these designs. The designs are unique, Z 22 || not publicly known, and their disclosure would cause Plaintiff competitive and business harm. 23 B. Building Design Information 24 Plaintiff Nicole Ting-Yap is a principal in the development of energy-efficient building 25 || designs specifically tailored to the climate in Malaysia. Nicole was personally responsible for 26 || developing the building designs and prototypes, with the help of numerous contractors and 27 || technical experts. The development of these designs required a significant investment in time, 28 || money, research, and testing, and have commercial value derived from their secrecy. While 18786.001 4827-1630-7187.1 3 Case No. 21CV381110 "sé PLAINTIFFS? TRADE SECRET DISCLOSURE STATEMENT --OSOSO~SCS 1 |j Setima Sdn. Bhd. (“‘Setima”) is the contracting party to many of the agreements surrounding the 2 || development of this trade secret information, Nicole Ting-Yap is the principal responsible for the 3 || development of the designs and is personally responsible for maintaining their secrecy. Nicole 4 || Ting-Yap has been asked by a major university to publish her findings, under her own name, but 5 || has declined to do so in favor of commercializing the advancements. Q a 6 The trade secret features of the building design include, but are not limited to: ey) 0 7 l. The specifics of the building envelope; a 8 2. The techniques used to construct the building; dq x 9 3. The specific measurements of wall thickness, windows, glazing, etc., designed to oOo; 5 2 m 10 || create maximal energy efficiency for the heat and humidity of Malaysia; HY 2o ; 11 4. The adaptation of green building techniques for the Malaysian climate; u Oa we a 12 5. The results of the research and testing of various permutations and combinations of > 19 By: z SKY S 9 20 Attomtys for Plaintiffs 5 ANNE TING, JACK TING, 8 24 and NICOLE TING-YAP 2 22 Oo 23 24 25 26 27 28 18786.001 4827-1630-7187. | 4 Case No. 21CV381110 PLAINTIFFS’ TRADE SECRET DISCLOSURE STATEMENT 1 PROOF OF SERVICE 2 Anne Ting, Jack Ting, and Nicole Ting-Yap vs. Panida Chinsupakul Santa Clara County Superior Court Case No. 21CV381110 3 4 || STATE OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO 5 At the time of service, I was over eighteen years of age and not a party to this action. QO Iam employed in the County of San Francisco, State of California. My business address is 4 6 ||] One Montgomery Street, Suite 3000, San Francisco, California 94104-5500. wn 3 7 On August 16, 2021, I served true copies of the foregoing document described as a 8 PLAINTIFFS’ TRADE SECRET DISCLOSURE STATEMENT < PURSUANT TO C.C.P. § 2019.210 of 5 im 10 || on the interested parties in this action as follows: 0% @ Y 6 ; il Attorney for Defendant Panida Chinsupakul: uo MO w yoo 12 Michael G. Ackerman, Esq. > 19 u I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the 9 20 || foregoing is true and correct. 8 21 Executed on August 16, 2021, at San Francisco, California. Z 22 23 KODE LN Uae Robert Brown 24 25 26 27 28 18786.001 4827-1630-7187.1 5 Case No. 21CV381110 _ PLAINTIFFS’ TRADE SECRET DISCLOSURE STATEMENT SS l PROOF OF SERVICE: >| The undersigned declares: 3 lam a citizen of the United States and a resident of Santa Clara County, State of California. [ 4 am over the age of eighteen (18) years and not a party to the within above-entitled action. My 5 business address is 2391 The Alameda, Suite 100, Santa Clara, CA 95050. 6 On December 8, 2021, I served a copy of the following document(s) described as: 7 - SUPPLEMENTAL DECLARATION OF MICHAEL G. ACKERMAN IN SUPPORT 8 OF MOTION TO COMPEL RESPONSES TO REQUESTS FOR PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS 9 on the interested parties in this action by placing true copies thereof to the person(s) listed below: 10 11 || Ms. Skye Langs, Esq. COBLENTZ PATCH DUFFY & BASS LLP 12 || One Montgomery St., Suite 3000 San Francisco, CA 94104 13 | Telephone: (415) 391-4800 Facsimile: (415) 989-1663 14 || email: ef-sdl@cpdb.com slangs(@coblentzlaw.com 15 (Attorney for Plaintiffs, Anne Ting, Jack Ting, 16 || and Nicole Ting-Yap) | 7 * * . * (By U.S. Mail) | am readily familiar with my employer’s business practice for collection and 18 processing of correspondence for mailing with the United States Postal Service. I am aware that on 19 motion of the party served, service is presumed invalid if postal cancellation date or postage meter is 20 more than one day after dated of deposit for mailing in affidavit. I caused to be deposited such 21 | envelope(s) with postage thereon fully paid to be placed in the United States Mail at Santa Clara, 22 California. 23 Ns (By E-Mail) | caused a true copy of the foregoing document to be served on Skye Langs, of 24 4 Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP, at slangs@coblentzlaw.com. The e-mails were complete and no 25 reports of error were received on December 8, 2021. 26 ( ) (By Facsimile) I caused to be served by facsimile a true and correct copy pursuant to C.C.P. 27 §1013(e), calling for agreement and written confirmation of that agreement on court order, to the 28 -3- SUPPLEMENTAL DECLARATION OF MICHAEL G. ACKERMAN IN SUPPORT OF OF MOTION TO COMPEL CASE NO.: 21CV381110 1 || number(s) listed above or on an attached sheet. Said transmission was reported complete and without 2 jf error, 3||( ) (By Federal Express) | caused to be served a true and correct copy enclosed in a sealed 4 || package, for Federal Express collection and for overnight delivery. I had said envelope marked for 5 |] collection and overnight delivery to the addressed and to the office of the addressee(s) as above 6 || indicated. In the ordinary course of business and including said overnight envelopes, will be 7 || deposited with Federal Express at Santa Clara, California. § I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing is 9 || true and correct and that this declaration was executed in the City of Santa Clara, State of California 10 || on December 8, 2021. 11