Texas Instruments sued a former employee and his new employer, GlobalFoundries, for allegedly stealing trade secrets in the Texas Business Court last month.
The Texas Lawbook was in Fort Worth Monday morning for the temporary injunction hearing, but the courtroom was sealed shortly after Vartabedian Katz Hester & Haynes partner Marc Katz began his opening statements for Texas Instruments. Sealing the courtroom relegated nonparties, including the press, to a hallway on the Texas A&M University School of Law campus for four hours while the parties argued the merits of an injunction inside a makeshift courtroom.
Judge Jerry Bullard told Katz he was sensitive to closing the courtroom for the entire hearing and asked if there was a way for him to do his presentation without mentioning the trade secrets and instead refer to exhibit numbers.
“This is going to require me to discuss some of the customers and customer relationships, which are part of the trade secret and confidential information that we’re seeking to protect,” Katz said.
GlobalFoundries counsel White & Case partner Sean Gorman argued that the courtrooms should be open, but he agreed that if Katz must discuss confidential information, then it should be sealed.
According to court documents, Kannan Soundarapandian worked at Texas Instruments from 2002 to 2026 and was serving as vice president and business unit manager for high voltage power within Texas Instruments’ analog power products organization when he resigned.
Katz emphasized at the start of his opening statement that this is not a noncompete case.
Texas Instruments claims Soundarapandian refused to disclose who his new employer was when he resigned. In April, Texas Instruments filed a petition in Tarrant County seeking discovery on whether Soundarapandian was working for a competitor and, if so, in what capacity.
On the same day Texas Instruments filed its petition, it also sent a demand letter to Soundarapandian for repayment of certain interests. Counsel for Soundarapandian and GlobalFoundries responded to the letter. Soundarapandian is now the senior vice president at GlobalFoundries.
Texas Instruments claims in its lawsuit that Soundarapandian “can use his knowledge of TI’s technology roadmap for GaN and BCD technology to inform GlobalFoundries’ development team of TI’s targets, timelines, and projections for these technologies.” According to court documents, GaN, or gallium nitride, and BCD, or bipolar-CMOS-DMOS, are used in the manufacturing of semiconductors.
Soundarapandian is accused by his former employer of allegedly breaching his assignment of inventions and a confidentiality agreement he entered when he started at Texas Instruments in 2002.
Texas Instruments also brings misappropriation of trade secrets and tortious interference with contract claims against Soundarapandian and GlobalFoundries.
The company claims it will suffer irreparable harm if the court does not grant its motion for an injunction.
Judge Bullard took the motion under advisement, and the parties will file briefing next week.
Micala Bernardo, Alicia Pitts, Daniella Main, Maria Garrett, and Toby Galloway of Vartabedian Katz Hester & Haynes, and Bradley Caldwell, Robert Reich and John Summers of Caldwell Cassady Curry are also representing Texas Instruments.
Andrew Zeve, Andrew Jacobs and Michael Songer of White & Case are also representing GlobalFoundries and Soundarapandian.
The case number is 26-BC08A-0017.