On appeal, the Federal Circuit affirmed this Court's rulings with the exception of the $11,006,000 damages award on the misappropriation claim, which it vacated. Nite Glow Indus. Inc. v. Central Garden & Pet Co., 2021 WL 2945556 (Fed. Cir. July 14, 2021). The Federal Circuit remanded for a new trial on damages for misappropriation, concluding that plaintiffs are limited to head-start damages.

In other words, a “trade secret injunction [should] last[] only so long as is necessary to negate the advantage the misappropriator would otherwise obtain by foregoing independent development” of a non-infringing alternative. Nite Glow Industries, Inc. v. Central Garden & Pet Co., 2021 WL 2945556, at *7 (Fed. Cir. July 14, 2021) (quoting SI Handling Sys., Inc. v. Heisley, 753 F.2d 1244, 1266 (3d Cir. 1985)).