Two New England craft beer companies are dealing with a hangover from a contentious trade secret dispute. Massachusetts-based franchisor Craft Beer Stellar, LLC recently filed a complaint in Massachusetts federal court against Maine-based franchisee Hoppy Days, LLC. Plaintiff brought breach of contract claims in addition to alleging violations of the Defend Trade Secrets Act, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, Massachusetts trade secret law under M.G.L. C. 93, §§ 42 & 42A, and the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act under M.G.L. c. 93A §§ 2 and 11. The parties executed a franchise agreement in 2015 and defendant’s franchisee store opened its doors in early 2016. Plaintiff sent a notice of default for failure to comply with the franchise agreement to Defendants in October 2017. However, after sending the notice of default, according to Plaintiff, Defendants started posting Plaintiff’s trade secrets and confidential and proprietary information including secret formulas, patterns, and compilations of information used to operate its franchise on Glassdoor.com – a public job recruitment forum. Plaintiff seeks monetary and punitive damages as well as injunctive relief.

However, this is not the only trade secret litigation spawned by this franchisor-franchisee relationship. Plaintiff also brought suit – unsuccessfully – against Glassdoor for Defend Trade Secrets Act violations. The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts dismissed Plaintiff’s Defend Trade Secrets Act claims after finding that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (“CDA”) protects website operators from lawsuits relating to a third party’s publication of defamatory content. See Craft Beer Stellar, LLC v. Glassdoor, Inc., 2018 WL 5505247 (D. Mass. Oct. 17, 2018) (finding “[a]lthough § 230(e)(2) of the CDA provides an exclusion for “intellectual property” laws, the Defend Trade Secrets Act expressly provides that it “shall not be construed to be a law pertaining to intellectual property for purposes of any other Act of Congress”) (citing Defend Trade Secrets Act, §2(g)).

One can only hope that hoppier days are ahead for future franchisors and franchisees facing trade secret disputes.