Answer & Explanation:Essay QuestionChristian Dior is a luxury goods company that earns over $50 billion in sales
annually. The company employs over 10,000 people worldwide. Diors Cleveland-based
research and development (R&D) team, comprised of a dozen chemists and perfume
experts, spent approximately one year developing the Desire fragrance. The fragrance,
which was released in September 2014, has already earned the company over $175
million in sales and is currently the top-seller in the fragrance market.
Given the popularity of Desire, Cincinnati-based imitation fragrance maker,
ScentsRUs, hired a chemist and perfumer who spent three months trying to reverse
engineer and copy the fragrance. When those efforts failed, ScentsRUs tried to lure one
of the chemists who had helped to create Desire to come to ScentsRUs. However, that
individual informed ScentsRUs that the formula was a trade secret, and that he was
bound by non-disclosure and non-competition agreements.
Undeterred, ScentsRUs hired former Dior employee, Debbie Shane, who had
access to the Desire formula through her job on Diors mixing staff. Diors Cleveland-
based mixing staff, which consists of over 200 employees, is responsible for combining
ingredients to prepare all of the Dior fragrances pursuant to the formulas created by the
R&D teams. Despite the lack of any pre-employment background checks, every member
of Diors mixing staff is trusted with access to all of the companys fragrance formulas.
Debbie had o
nly worked in Diors mixing staff for five months before she left to
take the job at ScentsRUs. She is neither a chemist nor a perfumist. In fact, she did not
attend college. However, Debbies first assignment at ScentsRUs was to duplicate the
Desire fragrance, which she did on her first day at ScentsRUs using the formula
provided to her. Although she had not signed a confidentiality agreement, Debbie was
aware that Diors formulas, which were marked CONFIDENTIAL, were not supposed
to be shared.
In March 2015, ScentsRUs began offering an imitation fragrance in its stores,
which immediately caught the attention of Dior. After conducting an investigation as to
how ScentsRUs was able to create a perfect duplicate of Desire, Dior traced the
disclosure back to Debbie.
Dior immediately filed a complaint in Montgomery County, Ohio Court of
Common Pleas against ScentsRUs and Debbie for misappropriation of its trade secret.
You work for the judge who was assigned to rule on this case. Please
provide an objective analysis of the law and the relevant facts, in addition to
a recommended outcome under Ohio law. * If you need additional facts, or need to make assumptions, state so. You should
refer to the appropriate sections of the Uniform Trade Secrets Act, as adopted by
Ohio law, where applicable.* The essay should be type-written in Microsoft Word. Please use 1 margins,
double-spacing and 12-point font (Georgia; Palotino Linotype; or Times New
Roman). The Essay should not exceed 9 pages.