The California Uniform Trade Secrets Act (CUTSA) gives companies legal recourse for dealing with trade secret theft. Because of trade secret laws, a company such as Twitter can take legal action to protect its trade secrets and intellectual property. However, proving trade secret theft isn’t always an easy case.
Twitter threatens lawsuit
Twitter has threatened Meta Platforms with business litigation that could include a lawsuit. Twitter claims that Meta Platforms is purposely hiring former Twitter employees to create a social media website called Threads.
Twitter claims that Meta Platforms is hiring former Twitter employees specifically for their trade secret knowledge. The lawsuit also claims that former Twitter employees were purposely placed on the Threads engineering and development team.
The lawsuit demands that Meta Platforms stop using Twitter trade secrets and any of its intellectual property. Twitter threatens to seek civil remedies and injunctive relief if the demands are unmet.
Meta Platforms denies the claims made by Twitter. The company says no former Twitter employees are on the Threads engineering team. And that no former Twitter employees helped develop Threads. The company also denies purposely seeking to hire former Twitter employees.
Threads
Threads is a social media platform similar to Twitter. Threads users can post and share text, videos and images. Users can also start conversations and participate in conversations started by other users. There’s also the ability to share posts and likes.
Legal ramifications
Twitter and Meta Platforms are both based in California. Employee non-compete agreements aren’t allowed in California, so it’s unknown if Twitter’s claims will stand up in court.
Former Twitter employees are free to work for anyone. Twitter will likely need solid evidence that Meta Platforms actually put Twitter trade secrets to use.