Erise’s Carrie Bader and Megan Redmond successfully obtained summary judgment for client Bird Rides, Inc. in a trade secret matter in Texas state court.
In Garcia v. Bird Rides, Inc. the plaintiff filed suit under the Texas Uniform Trade Secrets Act against several defendants, including Segway, Bird Rides, and a number of individuals. Erise represented Bird and two of its executives, Travis Vanderzanden and Brian Buccella. After getting Vanderzanden and Buccella dismissed as named parties, Erise filed a targeted motion for summary judgment on the plaintiff’s trade secret claims based on a lack of evidence connecting Bird to any of the allegations. Following Bader’s oral argument, the Court granted summary judgment on Bird’s behalf – a rare instance for this specific court.
Bird is a “micromobility” company that distributes electric scooters designed for short-term rental in more than 400 cities. The plaintiff alleged that, several years ago, he told contacts at Segway about his concept for a ride-sharing service in the Austin area. He argued that Bucccella, who worked at Segway for some time, must have learned of the concept and told Vanderzanden prior to the launch of Bird in 2017, and that Vanderzanden used that to start Bird using electric scooters. Erise demonstrated there was no evidence of any connection between the plaintiff’s sharing of his concept to Segway with the launch of Bird.