Addison Whitney Granted Preliminary Injunctive Relief Against Former Executives

CHARLOTTE, N.C., May 1, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Addison Whitney, LLC, an inVentiv Health company that delivers full-service brand identity solutions, was granted a preliminary injunction against former executives to "prevent Defendants from retaining, using, disclosing or distributing any trade secret information improperly accessed." Previous Addison Whitney employees who are co-defendants in the lawsuit include Brannon Cashion, Vincent Budd, Randall Scott, Andrew Cuykendall, Amy Baynard and Jennifer Rodden.

Addison Whitney, a company that specializes in working with the biopharmaceutical industry to develop pharmaceutical brand names, filed a lawsuit against the defendants who resigned in a pre-planned and coordinated fashion. The lawsuit alleges that the defendants undertook a civil conspiracy to force a fire sale of the Company under threat of unfair competition from a business that they had already taken steps to establish called Leaderboard Branding. The suit also claims that the defendants misappropriated Addison Whitney's confidential trade secrets for their own use in their new venture, including non-public case studies and client information.

The defendants made the decision to resign in 2016, all providing formal notices of their departures on a weekend when no other employees were present. Evidence further showed that the defendants accessed servers for purposes of furthering their competing business. The ruling found, "Addison Whitney has introduced substantial evidence that Defendants accessed large volumes of protected client information," and that some of the defendants "downloaded or printed numerous documents just prior to submitting their resignations." The preliminary judgement orders the defendants to immediately return the documents or property considered confidential while the litigation continues.

"Our priority is to vigorously protect the Company and our clients' proprietary and business interests," said Eric Green, General Counsel for inVentiv Health. "We're especially pleased that the Court has ordered the return of confidential client information. The ruling secures Addison Whitney's confidential information and proprietary processes that have delivered some of the most relevant and enduring brand naming capabilities to the biopharmaceutical sector. We welcome the opportunity to engage in thorough discovery and anticipate that we will prove the full extent of the defendants' wrongdoing at trial."

About Addison Whitney
Addison Whitney is a global branding firm specializing in verbal and visual branding, brand strategy and market research. Founded in 1991, Addison Whitney's depth and breadth of clients reaches across multiple industries, including pharmaceuticals, healthcare, consumer, B2B, technology, finance and hospitality. Addison Whitney is part of inVentiv Health, a global professional services organization designed to help the biopharmaceutical industry accelerate the delivery of much-needed therapies to market. Utilizing a unique and interactive creative process, Addison Whitney has developed some of the world's leading brands. Headquartered in Charlotte, NC, Addison Whitney has offices in New York, Seattle, London, Munich and Tokyo; for more information, visit www.addisonwhitney.com.

Contact:
Danielle DeForge
+1 781 425 4624
[email protected]

SOURCE Addison Whitney

Related Links

http://www.addisonwhitney.com