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General Universal Systems, Inc. v. HAL, Inc.

The magistrate judge properly focused on the agreement between Lopez, Herrin, and Parkin as the only possible basis for a breached confidential relationship supporting the claim of trade secret misappropriation. Because Lopez was ousted from the HAL group in March 1993, any use of the program at issue by HAL after such a time would mark the accrual of Lopez's claim of trade secret misappropriation. Further, it was clear that HAL used the program by continuing to rely on it to accelerate the development and marketability of the new program. This continued use represented an exploitation of the program that was likely to result in injury to Lopez and enrichment to HAL. The 5th Circuit, however, declined to apply the concept of a continuing tort to the Texas common law claim of trade secret misappropriation. Thus, the magistrate judge properly treated the claim as time-barred.