Unitalen Representing Kingdee for Rights Protection Won Again: Disclosure and Use of Client Lists by the Resigned Former Employee Constituted Trade Secrets Infringemen

January 27, 2022

Case Brief:

Established in the 1990s, Plaintiff Kingdee has been engaged in financial software and financial voucher paper for many years and is a leader in the industry.

Huang Yang signed a "Labor Contract" with Kingdee in April 2008. The contract period is from April 2008 to April 2011. Huang Yang was engaged in sales and service. In July 2012, Kingdee appointed Huang Yang as the director of the western region, responsible for procurement logistics and sales in Chengdu. In June 2013, Huang Yang resigned from the Plaintiff.

The company Moneywise was established in July 2012. From January 2013 to December 2014, Kingdee authorized Moneywise as "Golden Partner" and "Platinum Distribution Partner" and the like. In April 2014, Kingdee issued the professional qualification certificate of "2014 KIS Flagship Implementation" to Huang Yang. In August 2015, Huang Yang became a shareholder of Moneywise with a 100% shareholding and served as the legal representative. In July 2020, just after the case was filed, the legal representative of Moneywise was changed to Zhou Guoxiu.

Kingdee conducted transactions with Company A from January 2009 to May 2015, with Company B from January 2009 to March 2015, and with Company C from May 2011 to April 2015 on accounting vouchers and the like, and issued invoices with the unit price of X.

After the plaintiff terminated the authorization to Moneywise in December 2014, Moneywise issued invoices with the three companies A/B/C from March 2015 to October 2017, and the two sides conducted transactions on accounting vouchers, and the unit price was also X.

Kingdee believes that the aforementioned acts of Huang Yang and Moneywise have infringed on the trade secrets it misappropriated on the client lists and filed a lawsuit with the Chengdu Intermediate People's Court in July 2020, claiming that Huang Yang and Moneywise infringed on its trade secrets, which constituted an unfair competition.

Court Judgment:

After trial, the Chengdu Intermediate People's Court made a judgment on this case on September 27, 2021, ordering Huang Yang and Moneywise to immediately cease using the plaintiff's trade secrets of the plaintiff in the form of client lists from the date when the judgment took effect; and ordering Huang Yang and Moneywise to jointly and severally compensate the plaintiff Kingdee for economic losses and reasonable expenses. At present, the defendant has not filed an appeal, and the judgment of the case has come into effect and is final.

Typical Significance:

This case is a classic case made by the Chengdu Intermediate People's Court on the trade secrets of client lists. The judgment of this case has a strong warning effect on the internal risk prevention and control of enterprises. The typical significance of this case is mainly manifested in the two aspects: "determination of the constituent elements of the client lists" and "determination of the infringement on trade secrets by resigned employees".

 

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