Trade Secret Success

Our intellectual property and public records law expertise came in handy when rideshare company Lyft asked for our help protecting its confidential ride and driver data in Portland.  The Oregonian newspaper sought Lyft’s competitively sensitive ride and vehicle data from the City of Portland, which received data from Lyft pursuant to nondisclosure agreements and City regulations of transportation network companies.  After the District Attorney ordered the City to produce the data to The Oregonian, we obtained a temporary restraining order blocking the release of the data by making a preliminary showing that it qualified as trade secret data.  In later briefing and a hearing on the merits and requesting an injunction against the release of records, we argued that Lyft’s data was exempt under both the Oregon Public Records Law and the Uniform Trade Secrets Act. The Multnomah County Circuit Court ruled that the data was exempt from disclosure as protected business information and trade secrets and issued a permanent injunction prohibiting the City from disclosing the data.  Our success in this matter derived from a keen understanding of Lyft’s business model and the value in keeping certain data confidential, as well as the unique overlap between trade secrets and public records law.