Judge James V. Selna, who oversaw one arm of Masimo’s multi-jurisdictional battle against Apple this year—a trial at Santa Ana’s United States District Court in April and May that resulted in a hung jury—has another notable trade secret case on his docket.
Costa Mesa’s defense tech firm Anduril Industries in September sued a trio of its former employees who left Anduril last year to start their own firm, Salient Motion, accusing them of stealing trade secrets and breaking their employee contracts.
Selna is the referring judge in the case, while Karen E. Scott is the presiding judge, according to court records.
Salient Motion, which state records indicate is based in Irvine, says it is a “next-generation supplier for aerospace and defense, specializing in advanced electric propulsion and actuation.”
Anduril founder Palmer Luckey says his nearly 2,200-person company, the country’s fastest-growing defense contractor, has encouraged employees to start their own businesses, and in some cases has helped fund those spinoffs.
But, according to a Slack message Luckey sent to Anduril employees which tech trade publication The Information recently got its hands on, if he believes current or former employees are stealing confidential information, he will “show no mercy.”
For more on Masimo’s recent legal win in the U.S. International Trade Commission, see Peter J. Brennan’s front-page story, and for another local win on the trade secret front, for Irvine doorbell video camera firm SkyBell, see Kevin Costelloe’s story on page 6.
For the legal scoop on some of OC’s largest public and private companies, sign up to attend the Business Journal’s 13th annual General Counsel Awards, being held Nov. 16 at the Irvine Marriott.
Erwin Chemerinsky, founding dean of UCI’s law school, and current dean of UC Berkeley’s School of Law, is the master of ceremonies.
Babak Siavoshy was a 2021 General Counsel Award winner, when he was chief legal officer for Anduril Industries, which at the time was approaching a valuation near $5 billion.
Siavoshy this year moved into the CFO role for the Costa Mesa company, whose valuation is expected to be near $10 billion once its next funding round is completed.
The CFO has plenty of other expanding figures to account for at the growing defense tech firm.
The company’s revenue for 2023 is expected to be over $300 million, and could hit $500 million next year, according to 2022 financial projections first reported by The Information.
Anduril’s revenue could reach $1 billion by 2026; last year it booked $450 million of new government contracts and is expected to beat that figure by nearly 30% this year, the trade publication reported.
The startup posted an operating loss of over $250 million last year and is likely to continue to see similar losses for the near term.
