The
Illinois Trade Secrets Act (“ITSA”), which is consistent with both other states that have adopted the Uniform Trade Secrets Act and the federal
Defend Trade Secrets Act, allows the recovery of attorneys’ fees for a party who has been forced to defend against a trade secret claim made in bad faith.
See 765 ILCS 1065/5. This fee shifting provision provides an important mechanism to obtain relief for defendants who are forced to incur significant legal fees fighting baseless claims.
In a
recent decision of the 1st Appellate District of Illinois,
Multimedia Sales & Marketing, Inc. v. Marison Marzullo, et al., 2020 IL App (1st) 191790, the court affirmed the award of attorneys’ fees incurred by defendants under the bad faith fee shifting provision of the ITSA. Plaintiff Multimedia Sales & Marketing, Inc. (“MSM”) sued one of its competitors, Radio Advertising, Inc. (“RAI”) and three of its former employees who joined RAI, alleging that the former employees mi