NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – The US District Court of the Southern District of California yesterday dismissed a lawsuit brought by Human Longevity (HLI) against the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) and other defendants this summer.
Human Longevity had filed the suit in July, alleging the misappropriation of trade secrets by Craig Venter, who founded the company and the institute, after leaving HLI. Specifically, HLI claimed that Venter had taken a company-owned laptop containing trade secrets with him and passed on protected information to JCVI, where is chairman and CEO.
JCVI filed a motion to dismiss the suit in August, which HLI opposed in September, followed by a reply from JCVI that same month.
In an order issued yesterday, Judge William Hayes granted JCVI's motion to dismiss the suit, writing that HLI failed to show the misappropriation of trade secrets within the meaning of the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016.
HLI now has 30 days to file an amended complaint.