M-I LLC v. Stelly

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• holding that plaintiff’s unfair competition by misappropriation claim that alleging defendant used, without permission, plaintiff’s tool design drawings to make a competing a product was preempted
• finding that technical drawings of tools fall within copyright protection and collecting cases where circuit and district courts have determined that architectural and engineering drawings constitute copyrightable material
• applying Texas law and concluding that restriction limited to oilfield displacement tools/services was not an industry-wide ban
• To the extent tortious interference claim is based on losing business “that would otherwise flow from its exclusive use of [copyrightable material],” it is preempted
• “Covenants with wide geographic areas have been upheld frequently in Texas courts, especially when the area covered constitutes the employee’s actual sales or work territory.”
• “[T]he additional element in trade secret misappropriation, which requires either a breach of confidential relationship or discovery by improper means regulates conduct qualitatively different from that regulated by federal copyright law.”

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).

Cited by

21 cases in this archive cite this case; the 20 most cited are listed.

• Spear Marketing, Incorporated v. BancorpSouth Bank
  Fifth Circuit· 2015-06-30· cited 64×
• Bar Group, LLC v. Business Intelligence Advisors, Inc.
  S.D. Texas· 2017-02-22· cited 25×
• Daily Instruments Corp v. Heidt
  S.D. Texas· 2014-02-21· cited 24×
• Hoffman v. L & M ARTS
  N.D. Texas· 2011-03-07· cited 21×
• Pension Advisory Group, Ltd. v. COUNTRY LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY
  S.D. Texas· 2011-02-11· cited 17×
• Agoh v. Hyatt Corp.
  S.D. Texas· 2014-01-13· cited 17×
• Ultraflo Corporation v. Pelican Tank Parts, Inc.
  Fifth Circuit· 2017-01-11· cited 11×
• Beardmore v. Jacobsen
  S.D. Texas· 2015-09-18· cited 10×
• Engenium Solutions, Inc. v. Symphonic Technologies, Inc.
  S.D. Texas· 2013-02-15· cited 7×
• Ultraflo Corp. v. Pelican Tank Parts, Inc.
  S.D. Texas· 2011-10-18· cited 5×
• Orthoflex, Inc. v. ThermoTek, Inc.
  N.D. Texas· 2013-12-10· cited 5×
• Tecnoglass, LLC v. RC Home Showcase, Inc.
  S.D. Florida· 2017-02-10· cited 2×
• Sears Home Appliances Showrooms, LLC v. Appliance Alliance, LLC
  E.D. Illinois· 2018-06-29· cited 2×
• Schlumberger Technology Corp. v. Coil Tubing Solutions, LLC
  S.D. Texas· 2015-04-16· cited 1×
• Morton v. Cooper Tire & Rubber Co.
  N.D. Mississippi· 2012-12-10· cited 1×
• Ricky D. Parker and James Myers v. Schlumberger Technology Corporation
  Tex. App. Ct., 1st Dist. (Houston)· 2015-02-17
• in Re: Michelin North America, Inc.
  Tex. App. Ct., 5th Dist. (Dallas)· 2015-12-04
• Lakeway Regional Medical Center, LLC and Surgical Development Partners, LLC// Lake Travis Transitional LTCH, LLC N/K/A Lake Travis Specialty Hospital, LLC v. Lake Travis Transitional LTCH, LLC N/K/A Lake Travis Specialty Hospital, LLC// Lakeway Regional Medical Center, LLC Surgical Development Partners, LLC Brennan, Manna, & Diamond, LLC And Frank T. Sossi
  Tex. App. Ct., 3rd Dist. (Austin)· 2015-09-21
• Richard Gehrke and Pacific Companies, Inc. v. Merritt Hawkins and Associates, LLC
  Tex. App. Ct., 5th Dist. (Dallas)· 2020-01-23
• Steven Hernandez, Francisco Azuero, and Family Heritage Life Insurance Company of America v. Combined Insurance Company of America
  Tex. App. Ct., 2nd Dist. (Fort Worth)· 2021-02-11

Cites

91 cases in this archive are cited by this case; the 20 most cited are listed.

• Ashcroft v. Iqbal
  Supreme Court· 2009-05-18· cited 149,772×
• Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly
  Supreme Court· 2007-05-21· cited 146,720×
• Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. v. Zenith Radio Corporation
  Supreme Court· 1986-03-26· cited 58,760×
• Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Products, Inc.
  Supreme Court· 2000-06-12· cited 12,455×
• Little v. Liquid Air Corp.
  Fifth Circuit· 1994-10-26· cited 5,418×
• Johnson v. United States
  Supreme Court· 2010-03-02· cited 1,738×
• Collins v. Morgan Stanley Dean Witter
  Fifth Circuit· 2000-08-31· cited 1,731×
• Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc. v. Nation Enterprises
  Supreme Court· 1985-05-20· cited 1,191×
• Great Plains Trust Co. v. Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co.
  Fifth Circuit· 2002-12-09· cited 1,161×
• Cuvillier v. Taylor
  Fifth Circuit· 2007-10-05· cited 870×
• Reed Elsevier, Inc. v. Muchnick
  Supreme Court· 2010-03-02· cited 744×
• DeSantis v. Wackenhut Corp.
  Texas Supreme Court· 1990-06-06· cited 739×
• Insurance Co. of North America v. Morris
  Texas Supreme Court· 1998-07-14· cited 466×
• Computer Associates International, Inc., Plaintiff-Appellant-Cross-Appellee v. Altai, Inc., Defendant-Appellee-Cross-Appellant
  Second Circuit· 1992-12-17· cited 410×
• Triple Tee Golf, Inc. v. Nike, Inc.
  Fifth Circuit· 2007-04-17· cited 407×
• Sonnier v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance
  Fifth Circuit· 2007-12-06· cited 397×
• United States Ex Rel. Riley v. St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital
  Fifth Circuit· 2004-01-09· cited 373×
• R2 Investments LDC v. Phillips
  Fifth Circuit· 2005-03-01· cited 337×
• Data General Corp. v. Grumman Systems Support Corp.
  First Circuit· 1994-09-15· cited 321×
• Federal Open Market Committee of Federal Reserve System v. Merrill
  Supreme Court· 1979-06-28· cited 309×