## Facts

- Blue Star Land Services, LLC (Blue Star) provided land and regulatory services to oil and gas companies and maintained confidential business information used in performing that work.
- Theo Coleman was a former Blue Star employee with access to Blue Star’s computerized information.
- Blue Star alleged Coleman secretly obtained large amounts of electronic information containing Blue Star’s trade secrets.
- Blue Star further alleged Coleman used the information to start a competing business, harming Blue Star’s business interests.
- Blue Star filed suit alleging trade-secret misappropriation under the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (DTSA).
- Seeking to prevent Coleman from copying, deleting, concealing, or disseminating the information after receiving notice of the lawsuit, Blue Star moved for an ex parte civil-seizure order under 18 U.S.C. § 1836(b)(2).
- Blue Star requested an order authorizing a U.S. Marshal to enter Coleman’s premises and seize the allegedly misappropriated trade-secret material and related storage media so the information could be secured under court supervision.

## Issues

1. Whether Blue Star’s verified allegations satisfied the DTSA’s statutory prerequisites for an ex parte civil-seizure order under 18 U.S.C. § 1836(b)(2), including that seizure was necessary to prevent immediate and irreparable injury and that ordinary equitable relief would be inadequate.

## Decision

- The court granted Blue Star’s motion for an ex parte civil-seizure order under the DTSA.
- The court concluded Blue Star’s allegations satisfied the DTSA’s requirements for ex parte seizure, including the statute’s requirement that such relief be reserved for extraordinary circumstances.
- The order authorized law-enforcement seizure of the identified trade-secret property and related items from Coleman’s premises to secure the allegedly misappropriated information and prevent destruction or unauthorized dissemination.

## Legal Principles

- DTSA ex parte civil seizure is an extraordinary remedy available only when the applicant satisfies the statutory requirements in 18 U.S.C. § 1836(b)(2).
- To obtain ex parte seizure, the applicant must show, among other things: (i) another form of equitable relief would be inadequate because the target would evade, avoid, or not comply; (ii) immediate and irreparable injury will occur without seizure; (iii) the harm to the applicant outweighs harm to the person against whom seizure is ordered and any third parties; and (iv) the applicant is likely to succeed in showing the information is a trade secret and was misappropriated.
- The applicant must also show the person against whom seizure is sought has actual possession of the trade-secret property, and the application must describe with reasonable particularity the matter to be seized and, to the extent reasonable, its location.
- Any seizure order must be tailored to minimize disruption and to safeguard seized materials, consistent with the DTSA’s procedural protections.

## Conclusion

In Blue Star Land Services v. Coleman, the court granted an ex parte DTSA civil-seizure order after finding Blue Star’s allegations met the statute’s prerequisites for extraordinary relief, allowing law enforcement to seize the alleged trade-secret information to prevent its concealment, destruction, or dissemination pending further proceedings.


Blue Star Land Services v. Coleman, 2017 WL 11309528 (2017)