On February 21, 2013, Ecosphere Technologies, Inc. (“Ecosphere”) put industry giant Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. (“Halliburton”) on notice of a Demand for Arbitration ("Demand") that Ecosphere filed with the American Arbitration Association. The Demand alleges that “Halliburton took and disclosed Ecosphere’s trade secrets and proprietary technical, business and strategic information.”
Ecosphere is a water engineering, technology licensing and innovative manufacturing company that develops non-chemical water treatment solutions for industrial markets throughout the world. According to a press release from Ecosphere's counsel, Haliburton misappropriated Ecosphere's trade secret information related to hydro-fracking liquids, in violation of a non-disclosure agreement between the companies. Ecosphere had initially contracted to share the information with Haliburton. However, after Haliburton made a failed attempt to purchase Ecosphere outright, Haliburton continued to use Ecosphere’s trade secrets without authorization “to immediately market itself as an environmentally friendly company . . . .” The Demand claims $300 million in damages.
The issue of trade secrets in hyrdo-fracking has become a hotbed for litigation and legislation. TSI recently covered state attempts to legislate the issue. It was also a main topic at the 2012 TSI Symposium, “Private Data/Public Good: Emerging Issues in Trade Secrets Law.”