United States District Court, D. Connecticut
ORDER ON PLAINITFF'S MOTION FOR TEMPORARY
RESTRAINING ORDER
Kari
A. Dooley United States District Judge
Before
the Court is the Application for a Temporary Restraining
Order and Preliminary Injunction (the
“Application”) filed by the Plaintiff Aventri,
Inc. (“Aventri”). The Court has reviewed the
Application and all related filings thereto.
“The
traditional standards which govern consideration of an
application for a temporary restraining order … are
the same standards as those which govern a preliminary
injunction.” Local 1814, Int'l
Longshoremen's Ass'n v. N.Y. Shipping Ass'n,
Inc., 965 F.2d 1224, 1228 (2d Cir. 1992). In order to
obtain a preliminary injunction, a party must demonstrate
“(1) irreparable harm in the absence of the injunction
and (2) either (a) a likelihood of success on the merits or
(b) sufficiently serious questions going to the merits to
make them a fair ground for litigation and a balance of
hardships tipping decidedly in the movant's favor.”
MyWebGrocer, L.L.C. v. Hometown Info., Inc., 375
F.3d 190, 192 (2d Cir. 2004) (quoting Merkos
L'Inyonei Chinuch, Inc. v. Otsar Sifrei Lubavitch,
Inc., 312 F.3d 94, 96 (2d Cir. 2002)). Pursuant to
Fed.R.Civ.P. 65(b), the Court makes the following findings:
Aventri
provided notice via electronic mail and FedEx delivery of
this Application to the Defendants Michael Tenholder
(“Mr. Tenholder”) and counsel for Cvent, Inc.
(“Cvent”) (collectively, the Defendants) on
December 17, 2018. An electronic summons was issued in
accordance with Fed.R.Civ.P. 4 and D. Conn. L. Civ. R. 4 as
to the Defendants on December 18, 2018. The Defendants have
not yet appeared.
Aventri
has demonstrated a sufficient likelihood of success on the
merits on the breach of contract cause of action.
Aventri
has established a sufficiently serious question of whether
Mr. Tenholder is in violation of the Federal Defend Trade
Secrets Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1836 and the Connecticut
Uniform Trade Secrets Act, Conn. Gen. Stat. Ann. §§
35-50 to 35-58, making those questions a fair ground for
litigation. The Court makes no finding regarding claims
brought against the Defendants pursuant to the Connecticut
Unfair Trade Practices Act, Conn. Gen. Stat. §§
42-110a et seq.
The
Plaintiff will suffer significant and substantial irreparable
harm if temporary relief is not granted.
The
hardship to the Defendants occasioned by this grant of
temporary relief is de minimus, in light of the
scope of the relief granted.
There
is a substantial public interest in the protection of trade
secrets and proprietary information as well as the
enforceability of contracts.
Effective
immediately and at least until such time as a hearing is
convened on the Application, it is hereby
ORDERED:
Mr.
Tenholder shall not disclose, discuss, copy, use or permit to
be used, by any person or entity, any of Aventri's
“Confidential Information” as that term is
defined in the Obligations Agreement dated August 3, 2015.
To the
extent that Cvent is in possession of any of Aventri's
Confidential Information as that term is defined in the
Obligations Agreement dated August 3, 2015, Cvent shall not
disclose, discuss, copy, use of permit to be used, such
Confidential Information.
Mr.
Tenholder shall not solicit, induce, attempt to solicit or
induce, directly or indirectly, current
“Customers”, as that term is defined in the
Obligations Agreement dated August 3, 2015, of Aventri or
those persons or entities that were prospective Aventri
Customers as of November 12, 2018.
Mr.
Tenholder shall not contact any such Customers or prospective
Customers for any business reason, if to do so is an act made
on ...