Case: CDM Media USA, Inc. v. Simms 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 37458,; 2015 WL 1399050, N.C. Ill (2015)

Facts: Robert Simms worked for CDM Media USA, a marketing company focused on the technology industry. As CDMs point person for social media, Simms created, controlled, and managed various social media groups and profiles to promote his employer.

LinkedIn is a leading social media site for professional and business networking. The sites user agreement informs its members that your account belongs to you. Through his personal LinkedIn account and on behalf of CDM, Simms launched a LinkedIn group called the CIO Speaker Bureau. This private online community sough to bring together technology executives interested in CDMs services. Simms adopted LinkedIns strictest privacy setting, so the names of Bureau members and their communications were not available to the public at large. Over time, the group grew to 679 members and became a valuable source of clients for CDM.

Four years later, Simms left to work for a technology company called Box, which was one of CDMs largest clients. Upon departure, Simms refused to relinquish control of the LinkedIn group or to provide CDM with the groups membership. CDM sued Simms for misappropriation, arguing that the LinkedIn members were a company trade secret.

You Be the Judge: Is the list of members in a LinkedIn group a trade secret?

Question: Is it correct to say that the Bureau list is not a secret because it was announced in CPMs press release?

Question: Do you think Simms owns the Bureau group created by his LinkedIn account?