FXRobott LLC v. Noetiq Research Inc.
Court
District Court, S.D. New York
Decided
June 28, 2025
Jurisdiction
FD
Importance
41%
Case Summary
USDC SDNY UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DOCUMENT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK ee DATE FILED: _ 6/28/2025 _ FXROBOTT LLC, et al., . Plaintiffs, : -v- 25-cv-2264 (LJL) NOETIQ RESEARCH INC., et al., MEMORANDUM AND ORDER Defendants. : LEWIS J. LIMAN, United States District Judge: Plaintiffs FXRobott LLC, Argand Technologies Corp., and Robott Corporation (collectively “Plaintiffs”) moved for injunctive relief against Defendants Noetiq Research Inc., Henry Wilcox, Pixel Cloud Tech Solutions LLC, Patrick Black, Finnovation Technologies LLC, and Noah Applebaum (collectively “Defendants”) in connection with their claims for breach of contract and violation of the Defend Trade Secrets Act. Dkt. No. 41. On June 18, 2025, the Court held an evidentiary hearing on the motion. The presentation of evidence concluded that same day. At the hearing, Defendants objected to Plaintiffs’ Exhibit 18 and the Court reserved on the issue. Hearing Tr. at 76:14-22. Defendants now move to strike the exhibit. Dkt. No. 47. Plaintiffs oppose. Dkt. No. 49. The exhibit in question is a non-disclosure agreement (the “NDA”) purportedly executed by Argand Technologies Corp. and Nonparty Tappollo Media, LLC (“Tappollo Media”) on February 20, 2025. Plaintiffs claim that the NDA covers the purported owners of Tappollo Media, Boon Chew and Frank Perez, who were shown the alleged trade secrets in this case. /d. at 2. The NDA undoubtedly should have been produced in response to Defendants’ document requests. See Dkt. No. 47-2 at 8 (requesting “[a]ll documents that constitute, refer, or relate to any disclosure by, or with the permission of, Plaintiffs of any Confidential Information and/or trade secret in Plaintiffs’ Potential Product, to any third party, including the terms of that disclosure and any confidentiality agreement or nondisclosure agreement with the receiving party”). Nonetheless, Plaintiffs did not produce the NDA until 7:36 a.m. on June 18, 2025—less than an hour and a half before the evidentiary hearing began. Dkt. No. 47-6 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(c) states that “[i]f a party fails to provide information . . . as required by Rule 26(a) or (e), the party is not allowed to use that information . . . to supply evidence on a motion, at a hearing, or at a trial, unless the failure was substantially justified or is harmless.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(c). In turn, Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(e) provides in relevant part that a party must supplement its document productions or interrogatory responses “in a timely manner if the party learns that in some material respect the disclosure or response is incomplete or incorrect, and if the additional or corrective information has not otherwise been made known to the other parties during the discovery process or in writing.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(e)(1)(A). To determine whether to preclude evidence, courts look to four factors: “(1) the party’s explanation for the failure to comply with the discovery order; (2) the importance of the [precluded information]; (3) the prejudice suffered by the opposing party as a result of having to prepare to meet the new testimony; and (4) the possibility of a continuance.” Softel, Inc. v. Dragon Med. & Sci. Commc’ns, Inc., 118 F.3d 955, 961 (2d Cir. 1997) (citing Outley v. City of New York, 837 F.2d 587, 590–91 (2d Cir. 1988)); Patterson v. Balsamico, 440 F.3d 104, 117 (2d Cir. 2006). The Court reviews each factor in turn. First, Plaintiffs offer a weak explanation of their failure to turn over the NDA at an earlier date. Plaintiffs’ principal, Robert Del Grande, was deposed on May 29, 2025, and testified that he could not recall whether he had signed a non-disclosure agreement with Chew or Perez but that if one existed, it would have been produced. Dkt. No. 47-5 at 62:7–14, 213:15–215:3. At trial, Del Grande testified that he was confused to hear that he had not produced any such documents and that “right after [his] deposition,” he went back through his text messages with Chew and found the agreement with Tappollo Media. Hearing Tr. at 75:12–25. Del Grande testified that the document had not originally been produced because he had searched for relevant documents only in the send-and-receive software he had used for e-signatures. Id. There are reasons to question the reasonableness of that initial search. The NDA was purportedly executed on February 20, 2025. Dkt. No. 47-1. Defendants served the request for documents on April 11, 2025. Dkt. No. 47-2. If, as he testified, Del Grande was readily able
Case Details
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Status
Decided
Date Decided
June 28, 2025
Jurisdiction
FD
Court Type
district
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USDC SDNY UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DOCUMENT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK ee DATE FILED: _ 6/28/2025 _ FXROBOTT LLC, et al., . Plaintiffs, : -v- 25-cv-2264 (LJL) NOETIQ RESEARCH INC., et al., MEMORANDUM AND ORDER Defendants. :
LEWIS J. LIMAN, United States District Judge: Plaintiffs FXRobott LLC, Argand Technologies Corp., and Robott Corporation (collectively “Plaintiffs”) moved for injunctive relief against Defendants Noetiq Research Inc., Henry Wilcox, Pixel Cloud Tech Solutions LLC, Patrick Black, Finnovation Technologies LLC, and Noah Applebaum (collectively “Defendants”) in connection with their claims for breach of contract and violation of the Defend Trade Secrets Act. Dkt. No. 41. On June 18, 2025, the Court held an evidentiary hearing on the motion. The presentation of evidence concluded that same day. At the hearing, Defendants objected to Plaintiffs’ Exhibit 18 and the Court reserved on the issue. Hearing Tr. at 76:14-22. Defendants now move to strike the exhibit. Dkt. No. 47. Plaintiffs oppose. Dkt. No. 49. The exhibit in question is a non-disclosure agreement (the “NDA”) purportedly executed by Argand Technologies Corp. and Nonparty Tappollo Media, LLC (“Tappollo Media”) on February 20, 2025. Plaintiffs claim that the NDA covers the purported owners of Tappollo Media, Boon Chew and Frank Perez, who were shown the alleged trade secrets in this case. /d. at 2. The NDA undoubtedly should have been produced in response to Defendants’ document requests. See Dkt. No. 47-2 at 8 (requesting “[a]ll documents that constitute, refer, or relate to any disclosure
by, or with the permission of, Plaintiffs of any Confidential Information and/or trade secret in Plaintiffs’ Potential Product, to any third party, including the terms of that disclosure and any confidentiality agreement or nondisclosure agreement with the receiving party”). Nonetheless, Plaintiffs did not produce the NDA until 7:36 a.m. on June 18, 2025—less than an hour and a half
before the evidentiary hearing began. Dkt. No. 47-6
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(c) states that “[i]f a party fails to provide information
. . . as required by Rule 26(a) or (e), the party is not allowed to use that information . . . to supply
evidence on a motion, at a hearing, or at a trial, unless the failure was substantially justified or is
harmless.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(c). In turn, Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(e) provides in
relevant part that a party must supplement its document productions or interrogatory responses “in
a timely manner if the party learns that in some material respect the disclosure or response is
incomplete or incorrect, and if the additional or corrective information has not otherwise been
made known to the other parties during the discovery process or in writing.” Fed. R. Civ.
P. 26(e)(1)(A). To determine whether to preclude evidence, courts look to four factors: “(1) the
party’s explanation for the failure to comply with the discovery order; (2) the importance of the
[precluded information]; (3) the prejudice suffered by the opposing party as a result of having to
prepare to meet the new testimony; and (4) the possibility of a continuance.” Softel, Inc. v. Dragon
Med. & Sci. Commc’ns, Inc., 118 F.3d 955, 961 (2d Cir. 1997) (citing Outley v. City of New York,
837 F.2d 587, 590–91 (2d Cir. 1988)); Patterson v. Balsamico, 440 F.3d 104, 117 (2d Cir. 2006).
The Court reviews each factor in turn.
First, Plaintiffs offer a weak explanation of their failure to turn over the NDA at an earlier
date. Plaintiffs’ principal, Robert Del Grande, was deposed on May 29, 2025, and testified that he
could not recall whether he had signed a non-disclosure agreement with Chew or Perez but that if
one existed, it would have been produced. Dkt. No. 47-5 at 62:7–14, 213:15–215:3. At trial, Del
Grande testified that he was confused to hear that he had not produced any such documents and
that “right after [his] deposition,” he went back through his text messages with Chew and found
the agreement with Tappollo Media. Hearing Tr. at 75:12–25. Del Grande testified that the
document had not originally been produced because he had searched for relevant documents only in the send-and-receive software he had used for e-signatures. Id. There are reasons to question the reasonableness of that initial search. The NDA was purportedly executed on February 20, 2025. Dkt. No. 47-1. Defendants served the request for documents on April 11, 2025. Dkt. No. 47-2. If, as he testified, Del Grande was readily able
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Case Details
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Status
Decided
Date Decided
June 28, 2025
Jurisdiction
FD
Court Type
district
Legal Significance
Case importance metrics
Metadata
Additional information
Quick Actions
Case management tools