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Our grant application was leaked to a competitor, who is now planning to sue

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Re: Our grant application was leaked to a competitor, who is now planning to sue

#11

sorry to say it but it sounds like you are the "other startup" with their hands on the confidential info of your competitors / the applicants. Looking to get feedback on your intended possible course to sue, under the guise of capturing mood of this or possible counters of your defendants-to-be. My advice is: don't do it. You weren't supposed to use the information in the review process for this purpose. If it got ou…

I don't know why you would say this but this is simply not true. Our confidential information was leaked, there is an incoming lawsuit, and we are trying to find the right course of action. The government department was tarred the moment they leaked our application to our competitor.

Re: Our grant application was leaked to a competitor, who is now planning to sue

#12

sorry to say it but it sounds like you are the "other startup" with their hands on the confidential info of your competitors / the applicants. Looking to get feedback on your intended possible course to sue, under the guise of capturing mood of this or possible counters of your defendants-to-be. My advice is: don't do it. You weren't supposed to use the information in the review process for this purpose. If it got ou…

Why do you think he sounds like the other party?

Re: Our grant application was leaked to a competitor, who is now planning to sue

#14
post #2

If you are sued, then post details here (it is public then) and the community may be able to assist. Adding to your patent portfolio as a defence is also a good idea. Your enemy is also going to do this. You can also sue because the grant process that involves external reviewers probably makes these reviewers sign an NDA. This competing company may be fraudulently volunteering to review cases to get advance warning o…

You mean that they might start filing for patents now, based on the contents of our grant application? That's something we hadn't considered as a possibility. :-/

Yes, you have to think in a defensive manner. You should also get a court order compelling the grant people to tell you who saw your info and whether or not they have their vetters sign an NDA. A signed NDA may be a valuable factor in any signed litigation if they saw your data and made a patent application (disclosed info they agreed in writing not to disclose).

Re: Our grant application was leaked to a competitor, who is now planning to sue

#15
From someone who has been through "similar" experiences: (Most entrepreneurs/founders dread this part of ruining a company... its a black-hole for time and $$, but an integral part.)

Talk to an EXPERIENCED lawyer. Experience matters here- Make sure they have worked on similar cases before. If you are doing your due diligence right, it will take some time to find a good lawyer. So, I would suggest starting on finding a good law-firm (w/ history representing clients like you) ASAP.

Try to get free consultations and take the advise you get during these meetings with a "pinch of salt"

There are many startup friendly law-firms that offer deferred payments or partial payments with stock compensation. Try to find one in/around your area.

Consult with at least 2-3 law-firms before you sign a retainer with the one you like.

Don't be afraid. Fear can be crippling. Pick your battles and live to fight another day. You will need to win many battles before you can win the "war"... and you are going into "war" right now.

Make an informed decision. There is a lot of "noise" on the internet and it is easy to get influenced by "bad advise" that seem good at first...So, it is important you find a good place for your information (an experienced law-firm)

You probably don't need more than 5-6 hours with a good lawyer to at least get an idea of how bad the situation really is. It is easy to think that things are worse than they are. Once you have a good handle on where you stand, you can then make the decision to sue, counter-sue, defend or drop-it and move on.

Keep in mind- the process to resolution might take months and sometimes even years! These things take time...

Good luck!

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