Centurion Industries, Inc. v. Warren Steurer and Associates
United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
665 F.2d 323 (1981)
Centurion Industries (plaintiff) held a patent on a teaching device and sued Warren Steurer and Associates (defendant) and another party for patent infringement, alleging their teaching machines (made by non-party Cybernetic Systems) infringed the patent. Centurion could not join Cybernetic as a party for lack of personal jurisdiction, so it subpoenaed Cybernetic's software information in a separate proceeding. Cybernetic resisted, arguing the software was a trade secret. Because the defendants' own experts would have access to that same software information to defend against the infringement claim, a magistrate judge granted Centurion's motion to compel, subject to a protective order limiting who could see and use the material. The district court upheld that order, and Cybernetic appealed.
Whether a court may compel production of trade-secret information over the holder's objection when the information is relevant and necessary to pending litigation and appropriate protective measures can limit the harm from disclosure.