Niemi v. NHK Spring Co., Ltd. (9/19/08)

The trial court dismissed the claims against Spring, the parent corporation of New Mather Metals, Inc. ("NMM"), for lack of personal jurisdiction and awarded summary judgment to NMM on all of Niemi's claims. The 6th Circuit upheld the trial court's dismissal of the claims against Spring, but held that there was sufficient evidence to create fact issues on the trade secret and promissory estoppel claims. Given that Niemi's averment of an oral confidentiality agreement was probative evidence and not refuted, the experts' opinions afforded facially significant evidence of the reasonableness of Niemi's reliance on such an agreement. When Niemi's statement was viewed in light of customary practice and the parties' lengthy relationship, a fact issue began to emerge. A jury could find that Niemi's efforts to maintain the confidentiality of his trade secret were reasonable.