Cases & Deals

SMS group defeats trade secret claims involving steel plant technology

Client(s) SMS group GmbH and SMS group, Inc.

Jones Day successfully represented SMS group GmbH and SMS group, Inc. ("SMS") in a long-running, hard-fought trade secret case between global competitors who build equipment for the steel industry.

SMS won a bid to supply a steel caster for a new $1.2 billion steel plant. After publishing a paper about the caster, SMS was sued by its competitor for alleged misappropriation of trade secrets under the federal Defend Trade Secret Secrets Act ("DTSA"), Pennsylvania's Uniform Trade Secrets Act ("PUTSA"), and state law. Plaintiff sought broad injunctive relief as well as losses in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Jones Day's defense resulted in Plaintiff withdrawing its initial complaint and two motions seeking a preliminary injunction. Discovery included voluminous foreign language documents and numerous fact and expert depositions in the U.S., Italy, and Germany.

In 2024, Jones Day won a complete defense victory at summary judgment for SMS on all claims. After SMS had obtained a court order requiring plaintiff to provide a binding trade secret statement, the court granted SMS's motion for summary judgment and held that plaintiff had “failed to identify its trade secret(s) with the requisite specificity.” The court recognized that, during the litigation, plaintiff had taken multiple positions regarding how SMS allegedly misappropriated its claimed trade secret(s), but that "[u]ltimately, it does not matter because [plaintiff] is unable to sufficiently identify what trade secret(s) it contends SMS misappropriated.”

SMS also asserted counterclaims for unfair competition, tortious interference, and abuse of process based on plaintiff's prior conduct. The court denied plaintiff's motion for summary judgment on these counterclaims, holding there were disputed issues of fact whether plaintiff engaged in unfair competition and whether plaintiff's case against SMS was objectively baseless and subjectively motivated. SMS’s counterclaims were set for a jury trial beginning in May 2025, but the matter was resolved during a judicial settlement conference in late April.

Danieli Corp., et al. v. SMS group, Inc., et al., 2:21-cv-1716 (W.D. Pa.)