Ah, October: the time of crisp fall air, brightly colored
leaves, and pumpkin spice-flavored everything. And, of course, the
World Series quest that can unite a city—or, in the case of
Orrick's San Francisco and Washington, D.C. offices, give rise
to a friendly wager (sorry, D.C.!). In honor of the baseball
playoffs, we take a look at some trade secret issues related to our
national pastime.
Take Me Out to the Ballgame
Or on second thought, let's stay in and watch it on
television. A lucrative television contract with a professional
sports team is worth fighting over—just ask Fox Sports Net
North (successor to Midwest Sports Cable) and the Minnesota Twins.
When MSC's former general manager became the Twins' Chief
Operating Officer in 2000, he looked into switching the Twins'
television deal. Fox did not take too kindly to these efforts, and
sued for misappropriation of trade secrets,
among other claims. The Eight Circuit affirmed summary judgment for the Twins:
because the former general manager left before Fox purchased MSC,
any financial information he possessed was obsolete. In addition,
the network's business contacts were readily ascertainable, and
the telecast agreements had not been kept sufficiently
confidential. The court also found that the former general manager
had not used the information for the Twins' benefit, rejecting
Fox's argument that he would inevitably do so.
Buy Me Some Peanuts and Crackerjack
Or at least buy me a pair of binoculars to spy on the other team.
For as long as there has been baseball, there have been crafty
players and coaches trying to gain an advantage (allegedly) through
sign-stealing. Perhaps the most famous
accusation relates to "the shot heard 'round the
world"—the home run that sent the 1951 New York Giants
to the World Series. Rumor has it that the dramatic home run may
have been the result of an elaborate scheme: the Giants stationed a coach
with a telescope just behind center field, who pressed a button to
alert the bullpen catcher (one buzz for fastball; two for
changeup), who in turn relayed the sign to the batter. More
recently, the Phillies came under fire when their bullpen coach was
caught looking through binoculars at the opponent's catcher
while another player was on the bullpen phone. (The Phillies'
response? If they were trying to steal signs, they wouldn't be
so obvious about it.) Baseball sign-stealing may be unlikely to
lead to trade secrets litigation, but it undoubtedly would result
in some interesting courtroom drama if it did.
Root, Root, Root for the Home Team
If they don't win, it's a shame—or because their
longtime manager left for a rival team. The end of every season
seems like a game of musical chairs, with reshuffling of on-field
performers and front office personnel. Just recently, the Dodgers
hired a new president of baseball operations from the Tampa Bay
Rays, and the Arizona Diamondbacks named the Oakland Athletics'
bench coach as their new manager. While these new hires may face
their former clubs only for the rare interleague series, every
Boston Red Sox fan knows that moves to a hated rival are just as common. But
what's a team to do when it fears its weaknesses may be
revealed to the enemy? Not much, it seems—in professional
sports, trades are a way of life. (Though they might want to change
signs in advance of the next showdown; just look out for
binoculars.)
For It's One, Two, Three Strikes You're
Out
That high-90s fastball sure is hard to catch up with. But who first
had the idea to display the speed and type of pitch at the game?
Former college baseball coach David Baker wants credit for that
one. Back in 1988, Baker approached visual display company
Daktronics with an idea for a pitch speed indicator. When
Daktronics later began making and selling similar indicators to
major league teams, Baker sued for trade secret misappropriation.
The Supreme Court of South Dakota affirmed summary judgment in favor of
Daktronics: the definition of trade secret did not include a
marketing concept or new product idea, and in any event the
"formula" of combining a radar gun, console, and display
was readily ascertainable. Bad news for Baker, but good news for
baseball fans everywhere.
Extra Innings: Sometimes You Have to Play
Dirty
Everyone knows using pine tar on the baseball can get you in trouble. But what about other
sticky substances? It turns out every baseball used in major and
minor league games has been treated with Lena
Blackburne Baseball Rubbing Mud. The mud, which is used to make
the ball less slick for pitchers, comes from New Jersey. But
that's all we know: the exact location of the mud hole is a
carefully guarded secret—as is the special ingredient added
to the mud once it's been gathered. In fact, when the rubbing
mud was featured on the TV show Dirty Jobs, host Mike Rowe
was blindfolded when led to the mud and was not allowed to observe
the addition of the secret ingredient. That's some valuable
mud!
It remains to be seen which team will emerge from October as the ultimate baseball champion. But one thing's for sure: baseball brings its fair share of drama both on and off the field.
Twitter: @TS_Watch
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