Successfully defended clients against unfair competition claims

Our clients, one of the pioneers of the charter market in Lithuania and a charter company owned by him, were sued by a competitor for damages and an injunction against using the competitor’s trade secrets. The competitor claimed that the clients had allegedly poached 6 employees and used its trade secrets.

In the court of first instance, our Dispute Resolution lawyers were able to prove that each of the 6 employees had had a valid reason to leave the former employer and that no competitor’s trade secrets had been used. Moreover, we also proved that the owner of the company is not an “entity” and therefore not liable under Article 15(1)(4) of the Law on Competition.

The court of appeal upheld the judgment, confirming our arguments and the conclusions of the court of first instance.

The cherry on top – not only did we succeed in proving the good faith of our clients, but also in proving the deliberate concealment of evidence by the claimant. Allegations of concealing evidence are quite common, but it is very rare to prove it in court.