A Federal jury has agreed with several major claims made by Opal Labs in a lawsuit filed against Sprinklr but could not agree on damages. This is the latest development resulting from a four-year fight between the two companies that started when Opal filed a lawsuit against Sprinklr in 2017.
The suit alleges that Sprinklr, a former business partner of Opal, obtained confidential information about Opal’s software, then used it to create a competing product. The jury found that Opal had provided three of its major claims in the suit:
- Misappropriation of trade secrets
- Breach of a teaming contract
- Breach of a nondisclosure agreement
That being said, the jury could not come to an agreement for damages. At the trial, Opal sought $22 million in compensatory damages and $88 million in punitive damages. Another thing the juries could not agree on was other claims like fraud and breach of terms of use. “The jury’s verdict confirms what Opal has been saying for years: Sprinklr stole the key components of Opal’s software and used them in Sprinklr’s competing product. The jurors unanimously found that Sprinklr stole Opal’s trade secrets and breached its non-disclosure agreements,” said Chad Colton, attorney at Markowitz Herbold representing Opal in an email.
Sprinklr has denied all allegations. “We continue to strenuously deny all allegations in this matter,” said Bob Carey, partner at Tonkon Torp and attorney for Sprinklr in an email, adding, “It’s not Sprinklr’s practice to comment on ongoing litigation outside of the courtroom.”
Opal makes software that allows marketing teams to collaborate and create cohesive marketing stories. During the lawsuit’s time frame, Sprinklr’s software helped users manage social media accounts.
According to the third amended complaint filed in March, things came to a head in 2013 after mutual customer Nike asked the two companies to integrate their software, allowing Nike marketers to more easily use the two companies’ functions together. To do this, nondisclosure agreements were signed, a teaming agreement was signed in 2014 and a software integration agreement was signed in 2016. According to the suit, then-Nike employee Paul Herman used his customer access to obtain confidential and proprietary information about Opal’s software, then used it to help create a competing product that tied in what Opal did with Sprinklr’s tool. By 2017, that effort become Sprinklr’s Planner 2.0, with many of its features based on Opal’s confidential and trade secret information, according to the suit. In February 2017, Herman left Nike and joined Sprinklr. He is currently vice president of customer engagement and market intelligence. According to the suit, Nike told Opal in 2017 it would stop using Opal’s product and shift to Sprinklr’s Planner 2.0.
The two sides will return to court in February to hash out the fraud claim and damages.
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