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`MAY 05 2019
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`NARTMD J.D.
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`DOCKET NO.: XO7-HHD—CV-14-6049281-S
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`DUR-A—FLEX, INC.
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`v.
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`SAMET DY
`
`:
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`:
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`:
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`E
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`SUPERIOR COURT
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`JUDICIAL DISTRICT OF
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`HARTFORD
`
`MAY 6, 2019
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`Articulation of Memorandum of Decision
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`In its decision on the first phase of this trial the court found that the plaintiff
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`Dur-a-Flex maintained certain things as trade secrets. The decision did not find that the
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`manufacturing process standard procedures were trade secrets. This articulation will
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`explain why.
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`The evidence showed Dur-a-Flex followed standing operating procedures when
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`mixing chemicals to create the products at issue. The purpose of following the
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`procedures was to ensure continuity between batches. The standing operating
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`procedures governed the length of mixing time, the choice of blades, the choice whether
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`to run the machine continuously and how and when chemicals would be added.
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`There was testimony that Dur-a—Flex experimented with different approaches to
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`these procedures before settling on standard operating procedures. Nonetheless, the
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`court is convinced based upon the nature of the experiments performed, the number of
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`them, and their relative simplicity that the mixing procedures at issue were readily
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`ascertainable by skilled industry operatives. The experiments involved simple
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`variations of the procedures readily imagined by any skilled person trying to create a
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`stable mixture. There was no great length of time spanned in the development of the
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`standard operating procedures, no extensive or sophisticated chemical research or
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`industry benchmarking and no large number of trials. With inconsiderable effort a Dur-
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`a—Flex rival could have devised these procedures without help.
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`Under General Statutes § 35—51 (d) a thing can’t be a trade secret if it is readily
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`ascertainable. Therefore, the court has concluded the Dur—a-Flex standard operating
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`procedures aren’t trade secrets.
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`BY
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`E
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`URT
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`Moukawsher, J.
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`