This was originally posted on the SGR Blog.
Were Claims Barred by Statute of Limitations or Otherwise?
Sure, Inc., an insurance technology (insurtech) company, alleged that one of its former directors, Alex Maffeo, misappropriated Sure’s confidential trade secrets. He then used that information to start a competing business through Boost Insurance Agency USA, Inc. and Boost Insurance Agency, Inc. Sure claimed that Boost used Sure’s confidential information to unfairly compete against Sure and to “steal” Sure’s existing and prospective customers and business partners. Boost moved to dismiss the complaint, arguing that it was time-barred and insufficiently pled.
Sure is a Delaware corporation with a principal place of business in Santa Monica, California. Sure alleged that Wayne Slavin formed Sure in 2014 to sell instant, in-the-moment, direct-to-consumer insurance. According to its original business model, Sure acted as an electronic insurance agent, allowing insurance companies to offer insurance and customers to purchase insurance through a mobile application powered by Sure’s groundbreaking backend software, technology, and electronic system of record. The complaint alleged that Sure developed that backend infrastructure and technology through years of research, design, programming, and testing, and through millions of dollars of investment. In mid-2016, Sure developed proprietary application interfaces (APIs) built on its software and technology to allow non-insurance companies to offer insurance through their websites. Sure alleged that the “innerworkings” of its backend system, its proprietary software, its model of providing instant insurance and related technological innovations, were all confidential trade secrets.
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