Since the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) passed in 2016, trade secret litigation has exploded. In 2024 alone, U.S. courts saw over 1,200 new filings—many involving hundreds of millions in claimed damages. These disputes hinge not just on what was taken, but on how convincingly experts can prove it—translating complex data into credible, human testimony that resonates with juries.
What are the biggest trade secret cases in recent years?
Propel Fuels Inc. v. Phillips 66 Company (2025)
A California jury sided with renewable-fuel producer Propel, finding that Phillips 66 misused confidential information shared during acquisition talks—then launched its own biofuels venture a year later. Expert testimony was central: 10 specialists explained how stolen proprietary models gave Phillips 66 an advantageous head start in R&D and market entry. The jury awarded $604.9 million in compensatory and $195 million in punitive damages—an $800 million total, among the largest trade secret verdicts in U.S. history.
An Arkansas jury awarded $222 million after finding Walmart misappropriated Zest Labs’ produce-freshness technology. Expert witnesses drew detailed comparisons between Zest’s predictive algorithms, sensor networks, and cloud analytics to Walmart’s Eden system. Their analysis linked data misuse to accelerated go-to-market, causing Zest competitive harm and lost licensing revenue. The unanimous verdict—one of the largest trade secret awards in state history—also included $150 million in punitive damages.
Insulet Corp. v. EOFlow Co. Ltd. (2024)
A Massachusetts jury concluded that EOFlow stole trade secrets to develop its EOPatch insulin pump. Forensic experts traced identical design files and algorithms from Insulet’s Omnipod system, while economist Dr. McLean’s “avoided-cost” model quantified the savings EOFlow gained by skipping R&D. The initial $452 million award was later reduced to $59.4 million to avoid double recovery—underscoring how precise valuation of past benefits proves more persuasive than speculative profits in court.
How is trade secret litigation evolving—and what challenges shape expert testimony?
- Plaintiffs have the momentum. According to Stout’s 2024 report, plaintiffs have won 84% of federal trade secret trials since 2017, with damages awarded in nearly 80% of them. Since 2020, 118 verdicts have delivered nearly $1 billion to plaintiffs.
- These wins often follow a familiar pattern: a smaller innovator accuses a larger rival of misusing confidential information. With courts leaning toward limited guidance on patent and copyright protection, trade secret protections—which, notably, don’t require inventorship or authorship—are becoming the preferred avenue for litigation. Expert witnesses are the linchpins proving uniqueness, misuse, and measurable loss.
- Trade secret litigation has entered the digital era. Once courtroom dramas, today’s disputes unfold in virtual forensics labs, where the evidence lives in AI training sets, source code, and cloud-based algorithms. Success now hinges on experts who can detect data overlaps, trace model similarities, and follow the faintest artifact trails across borders.
- Misappropriation cases are often global and complex, crossing servers, borders, and corporate boundaries—spanning multiple vendors and their web of subsidiaries. By mid-2020, the FBI was tracking over 2,000 trade secret investigations under the DOJ’s China Initiative. U.S. companies increasingly claim their proprietary code and R&D data are funneled through foreign affiliates, blurring the line between commercial rivalry and state-backed espionage.
- As damage requests balloon, courts are demanding greater scrutiny. A decade ago, a $74 million verdict could make headlines. Now, as verdicts climb in the hundreds of millions—and sometimes billions—courts are demanding more disciplined damages analysis.
Juries expect airtight reasoning around causation, head-start periods, and proof that damages stem directly from the theft, not the business choices that followed. That heightened scrutiny has made Daubert challenges a fixture in trade secret trials. There’s greater pressure on expert witnesses to show that their methods are sound, and therefore admissible in court.
PwC’s 2022 study found 272 challenges filed against financial experts in intellectual property cases—a 19% rise in a single year. Of those, one in three led to partial or full exclusion. The most common pitfalls included: models untethered to underlying data, opinions that don’t speak to the legal question, and experts whose credentials don’t match the subject matter.
With the average trade secret case lasting three years, expert witnesses must withstand not only initial judicial scrutiny but also the renewed examination that comes with appeals to overturn major verdicts.
Source the best expert witnesses for trade secret litigation with AP Expert Group
In high-stakes trade secret cases—where proving uniqueness, misappropriation, and damages can make or break a case—the right expert can define the outcome. Beyond credentials, success hinges on credibility, composure, and clear communication under pressure.
AP Expert Group applies a rigorous vetting process that evaluates both expertise and temperament, blending technical rigor with psychological insight to spot bias, exaggeration, and overexplaining before it becomes a liability in court.
Our network includes engineers, economists, data analysts, forensic scientists, and industry insiders uniquely qualified to uncover, explain, and quantify what others can’t. Whether the secret lies in an algorithm, a supply chain, or a proprietary recipe, they know where to look and how to turn complexity into clarity.
When millions of dollars and the viability of your client’s business are at stake, attorneys can’t afford to delay. Law firms need expert witness providers who listen closely, clarify quickly, and deliver the right expert without delay—and before your counterparty reaches out to them.
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