Live-chat messenger firm receives $30m from trade secrets suit
A California district court jury has awarded brand-to-consumer live messaging provider LivePerson more than $30 million in a trade secret suit win against competitor [24]7.ai.
The jury ruled that [24]7 had misappropriated all 15 alleged trade secrets, deciding to award LivePerson a four times damages multiplier in a US District Court for the Northern District of California verdict handed down on Thursday, June 17.
The trade secrets in dispute concerned sensitive data relating to LivePerson customers’ Capital One, Optus and Sears.
LivePerson secured a substantial total damages payout, with the jury awarding the company $6,740,000 for compensatory damages and $23,690,000 in punitive damages.
LivePerson was represented by Kirkland partners Adam Alper and Mike De Vries at trial, and [24] by O’Melveny partners including Darin Snyder and Melody Drummond Hansen.
A Kirkland spokesperson said the case was the first civil jury trial in the Bay Area since the courts reopened.
Case history
The two companies first entered a business relationship in 2006 to offer customers access to both LivePerson’s technology and [247]’s call centre personnel
LivePerson first took action against [24]7 in June 2014, claiming that the company had “abused its access” to LivePerson’s databases and misappropriated and misused protected technology and confidential information to create its own competitor service.
In its response, [24]7 claimed that LivePerson had failed to identify the specific trade secrets it was accused of misappropriating and that it was permitted to access LivePerson’s systems as part of their agreement.
The company also filed two separate lawsuits against LivePerson in 2017, alleging that it had infringed a total of 13 patents related to customer service products and customer analytics. Seven of these patents were challenged by LivePerson at the US Patent Trial and Appeal board.
The lawsuit was initially filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York before being transferred to the California court in 2017.
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