Luna Innovations Eclipsed By $36 Million Award

Law.com is reporting that a California jury hit Luna Innovations for $36 million in damages for breaking an agreement Luna had with hansen Medical to develop a robotic catheter and misused trade secrets to land a contract with Hansen’s competitor, Intuitive Surgical, Inc.

Key sentence: “The jury found that Luna breached its contract with Hansen in five ways, including breaking a nondisclosure agreement and failing to offer Hansen the first opportunity to negotiate an exclusive license to the technology they were developing together.”

It’s worth noting that Hansen had the opportunity to win this one because there was a nondisclosure agreement signed before any information of Hansen’s was disclosed to Luna. It is critical for small businesses looking to partner up that they execute nondisclosure agreements to protect their trade secrets.