Trade Secret Misappropriation
Case: SONY v. Connectix
Client: Townsend & Townsend & Crew LLP
Venue: U.S. District Court - Northern District of California,
San Jose
Year: 2000
Examples
SONY claimed that Connectix had illegally obtained
proprietary information to develop their product - Connectix Virtual
Game Station (CVGS), emulation software that allows consumers to view and play SONY PlayStation games on a personal computer.
Challenges:
Think Twice was given the task of illustrating the complex technology
of 3D animation in simple enough terms so that the jury would understand
it. In addition, we needed to compare the product development cycles
of the two companies, in order to have the jury reach the desired
conclusion regarding trade secret misappropriation.
Solutions:
Think Twice created an animated tutorial demonstrating how the computer
uses polygons to render component models in a typical video game.
We merged a wire frame model of a sports car with audio and video
elements captured directly from a SONY PlayStation, and introduced
the fully rendered car moving in a 3D game.
We produced a timeline juxtaposing the disproportionate
product development cycles of SONY and Connectix. We also developed
a simple animation analogy to drive home SONY's claim: The defendant
could not have developed a 'PlayStation - like' product in so short
a time frame without using our client's proprietary trade secret.
Outcome:
The case was settled on the courthouse steps, literally minutes before
the start of the trial. SONY was so impressed with our animation tutorial
that they now use it internally to explain 3D technology to non-technical
staff.
Services Provided
• Strategic Planning
• Creative Development
• Graphic Design
• Technical and Medical Illustrations
• Tutorials
• Deposition and Impeachment Exhibits
• Video Editing
• 2D and 3D Animations
• Still Graphics, Slides and Boards
• Document Scanning and Coding
• Databasing
• War-Room Management
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