Summary: Crater sued Lucent for missappropriation of trade secrets related to an under-sea fiber-optic coupling device. The government intervened to assert the 'state secret' privilege because divulging the information Crater requested during discovery would jeopardize national security. The C.A.F.C. affirmed the invocation of the state secrets privilege. However, the C.A.F.C. remanded for a determination of whether Crater may establish any claims without relying on the privileged information. See also,MP3: Crater v. Lucent(Fed. Cir. 2005) (MP3 citations omitted) (PDF); Patently-O: Government Secrecy Request Stalls IP Case. ; I/P Updates: 'State Secrets' Privilege Narrowly Construed in Trade Secret Case ; IP Law Observer: Dismissal of Trade Secret Claims to Protect Government State Secrets Was Premature; Just Observing: About Katrina & Use of State Secrets...; NPR: Administration Employing State Secrets Privilege at Quick Clip; CONSEJO: US Federal Circuit Holds US Navy Properly Invoked State Secrets Privilege In Trade Secrets Theft Case.
