Dannenbaum v. Brummerhop

In Dannenbaum v. Brummerhop, 840 S.W.2d 624, 631-33 (Tex. App.--Houston 14th Dist. 1992, writ denied) the Court referred to two lines of Texas cases--one in which courts analyze the difficulty in obtaining customer lists to determine whether such lists are confidential information and the other in which courts focus on the method actually used to obtain the information. Id. at 632-33. The Dannenbaum court observed: "The instruction in this case essentially stated that information one could readily obtain in the general industry could not be appropriated as confidential. Although Texas case law is conflicting, there is authority supporting the statement included in this instruction." Id. at 633. The court then concluded it could not say the trial court submitted an improper instruction. Id.