Templeton v. Creative Loafing Tampa, Inc., 552 So. 2d 288 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989). · Go Syfert
Templeton v. Creative Loafing Tampa, Inc., 552 So. 2d 288 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989). Cases Citing This Book View Copy Cite
24 citation events (7 in the last 25 years) across 5 distinct courts.
Strongest positive: PATIENT DEPOT, LLC v. ACADIA ENTERPRISES, INC., RYAN O'CONNOR and LORI ANN O'CONNOR (fladistctapp, 2023-04-26)
Treatment trajectory · 1989 → 2026 · click a year to view as-of
1989 2007 2026
Top citers, strongest first. 10 distinct citers.
discussed Cited as authority (rule) PATIENT DEPOT, LLC v. ACADIA ENTERPRISES, INC., RYAN O'CONNOR and LORI ANN O'CONNOR
Fla. Dist. Ct. App. · 2023 · confidence medium
“A former employee ‘cannot be precluded from utilizing contacts and expertise gained during [her] former employment, or even customer lists [she herself] develops.’” Id. at 330 (alterations in original) (emphasis supplied) (quoting Templeton v. Creative Loafing Tampa, Inc., 552 So. 2d 288, 290 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989)).
discussed Cited as authority (rule) Maxxim Medical, Inc. v. Professional Hospital Supply, Inc. (In Re Maxxim Medical Group, Inc.)
Bankr. M.D. Fla. · 2010 · confidence medium
See also Alan Scott, D.C., P.A. v. Moses, D.C., 712 So.2d 1242, 1243 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998) (finding a chiropractor’s patient list could not be classified as a trade secret because the claimant failed to submit substantive evidence to establish that the information on the list could not be obtained by other means); Sethscot Collection, Inc. v. Drbul, 669 So.2d 1076, 1078 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996) (holding that a clothing retailer's prospective customer list was not a trade secret because it was compiled from information which was readily ascertainable to the public using commercially available sources…
discussed Cited as authority (rule) Gleicher v. Claims Verification Inc.
Fla. Dist. Ct. App. · 2005 · signal: cf. · confidence medium
Express Travel Related Servs., Inc. v. Cruz, 761 So.2d 1206, 1209 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000); cf. Templeton v. Creative Loafing Tampa, Inc., 552 So.2d 288, 290 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989) (holding that customer lists are not trade secrets entitled to "injunctive protection" without proof "that they are the product of [] great expense or effort, that they are distillations of larger lists, or that they include information not available from public sources.").
discussed Cited as authority (rule) Liberty American Insurance Group, Inc. v. Westpoint Underwriters, L.L.C. (2×) also: Cited "see, e.g."
M.D. Fla. · 2001 · confidence medium
Templeton v. Creative Loafing Tampa, Inc., 552 So.2d 288, 290 (Fla.App.2d 1989) (citing Pure Foods, Inc. v. Sir Sirloin, Inc., 84 So.2d 51 (Fla.1955)).
discussed Cited as authority (rule) American Red Cross v. Palm Beach Blood Bank, Inc. (2×) also: Cited "see"
11th Cir. · 1998 · confidence medium
Moreover, an em■ployer may not preclude its former employee from “utilizing contacts and expertise gained during his former employment.” Templeton v. Creative Loafing Tampa, Inc., 552 So.2d 288, 290 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1989).
discussed Cited as authority (rule) Amer. Red Cross v. Palm Beach Blood (2×) also: Cited "see"
11th Cir. · 1998 · confidence medium
Moreover, an employer may not preclude its former employee from “utilizing contacts and expertise gained during his former employment.” 2 Although Palm Beach has not raised any issue regarding the “public interest” prong of the preliminary injunction test on appeal, the district court may wish to consider, on remand, whether trade secret injunctions between non-profit organizations serve the public interest. 8 Templeton v. Creative Loafing Tampa, Inc., 552 So. 2d 288, 290 (Fla. Dist.
discussed Cited as authority (rule) Sethscot Collection, Inc. v. Drbul (2×)
Fla. Dist. Ct. App. · 1996 · confidence medium
Because the prospective customer list is compiled from information that is readily ascertainable to the public and are not the "product of any great expense or effort," it "does not qualify as [a] trade secret[] entitled to injunctive protection." Templeton v. Creative Loafing Tampa, Inc., 552 So.2d 288, 289 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989); see also, Mittenzwei v. Industrial Waste Serv., Inc., 618 So.2d 328 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993).
discussed Cited "see" Health Care Management v. McCombes
Fla. Dist. Ct. App. · 1995 · signal: see · confidence high
See, Templeton v. Creative Loafing Tampa, Inc., 552 So.2d 288 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989) (customer list not a trade secret because could be derived from public publications); Public Systems, Inc. v. Towry, 587 So.2d 969, 972 (Ala. 1991) (spreadsheet data program not a trade secret because data compiled from government information generally available to public).
discussed Cited "see, e.g." Advantor Systems Corporation v. DRS Technical Services, Inc.
11th Cir. · 2017 · signal: see also · confidence medium
See also, e.g., Templeton v. Creative Loafing Tampa, Inc., 552 So.2d 288, 289-90 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989) (customer list was not a trade secret because it could be derived from public publications); Health Care Mgmt.
discussed Cited "see, e.g." East v. Aqua Gaming, Inc.
Fla. Dist. Ct. App. · 2001 · signal: see also · confidence low
See also Templeton v. Creative Loafing Tampa, Inc., 552 So.2d 288 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989) (considering, in deciding whether customer list is a trade secret, whether list is product of great expense and effort and is confidential); Dicks v. Jensen, 768 A.2d 1279 (Vt.2001) (stating that list of potential or existing customers which is not readily ascertainable has value and can be a trade secret). [1] Although conflicting evidence was presented at the hearing, there is sufficient evidence to support the trial court's determination that Aqua Gaming's customer list and the other exhibited information q…
"Bill" J. TEMPLETON, Appellant,
v.
CREATIVE LOAFING TAMPA, INC., Appellee.
88-03519, 89-01457.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District.
Nov 15, 1989.
552 So. 2d 288
Ryder.
Cited by 17 opinions  |  Published

[*289] Steven L. Brannock and Stacy Blank of Holland & Knight, Tampa, for appellant.

James M. Landis and Judith W. Simmons of Foley & Lardner & Hill, Tampa, for appellee.

RYDER, Judge.

Appellant/defendant challenges the trial court's order granting appellee/plaintiff's motion for a temporary injunction and a separate order denying appellant's motion to modify or dissolve the injunction. We reverse.

For eight years, appellant was an employee of Steppin' Out-Suncoast Edition, Inc. (Steppin' Out), the owner of a publication known as Music, which was distributed to local restaurants, nightclubs, and music and record stores in the Tampa Bay area. The magazine was free for the taking at the establishments which carried copies of it, and the company derived its revenues solely from its advertisers, most of whom were local merchants. Appellant worked in both the editorial and advertising departments of Music and was the principal contact for the magazine's advertising clients. During his employment, appellant developed a list of potential advertisers, including actual advertisers in Music and a larger number of merchants who fit into the class likely to advertise in the publication but who had not chosen to do so. The list contained the names, addresses and contact persons of the various merchants. Appellant also kept a distribution list, which contained information regarding the order of delivery and the number of magazines to be dropped off at each location.

In October 1988, Steppin' Out was purchased by appellee, which publishes a local edition of its magazine in the Tampa Bay area known as Creative Loafing. A large portion of the purchase price consisted of the good will associated with Music. Approximately two weeks after the sale, on October 31, 1988, appellant resigned and started a competing magazine called Music Pulse. When he left Music, appellant had in his possession the advertiser and distribution lists he had kept at his former position, but he returned them to appellee a few days after he left. Within ten days after leaving, appellant had the first edition of Music Pulse ready for publication. Most of the 80 to 100 advertisers in Music Pulse were the same merchants who had advertised in Music, and Music Pulse was distributed to many of the same establishments to which Music had been distributed.

On November 7, 1988, appellee sued appellant, seeking damages and injunctive relief against appellant for what appellee alleged to be appellant's use of appellee's trade secrets, consisting of the allegedly confidential information on the advertiser and distribution lists. After two evidentiary hearings, the trial court granted appellee's motion for temporary injunction, finding that appellee had suffered irreparable harm as a result of appellant's use of its trade secrets and stating that appellant had used "everything this company purchased." On December 15, 1988, the court entered its order enjoining appellant from using the lists, and also enjoining him from soliciting or contacting any advertisers on the advertiser list or delivering to anyone on the distribution list. The court later entered an order denying appellant's motion to modify or dissolve the injunction. These consolidated appeals arise from those two orders.

In our view, the lists in question do not qualify as trade secrets entitled to injunctive protection. There is no evidence that they are the product of any great expense or effort, that they are distillations of larger lists, or that they include information not available from public sources. See Pure Foods, Inc. v. Sir Sirloin, Inc., 84 So.2d 51[*290] (Fla. 1955); Harry G. Blackstone, D.O., P.A. v. Dade City Osteopathic Clinic, 511 So.2d 1050 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987), review denied, 523 So.2d 576 (Fla. 1988); Renpak, Inc. v. Oppenheimer, 104 So.2d 642 (Fla. 2d DCA 1958). In fact, the information on the lists is easy to obtain merely by looking at the advertisements in past issues of Music in addition to many other sources, such as the weekend sections of local newspapers and the yellow pages. Appellant testified that this was the method he used to compile his own advertiser and distribution lists in a very short period of time. We do not doubt that appellant was able to construct his own lists without reference to the lists he kept at Music, because there was no great secret as to the identity of likely advertisers and distributors, all of whom are members of a readily ascertainable class. See Renpak at 646.

The only arguably secret information on the advertiser list was the contact person information. However, the testimony shows that appellant knows all of these persons on a first name basis as a result of his experience working for Music and that he did not need a secret list to enable him to ascertain their identity. Appellant cannot be precluded from utilizing contacts and expertise gained during his former employment, Pure Foods, Blackstone, Renpak, or even customer lists he himself developed. Fish v. Adams, 401 So.2d 843 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981). As for the distribution information concerning the delivery route and the number of copies to be dropped off at each location, no great amount of expertise or even common sense is needed to fathom this data, which in any event does not appear to be overly crucial. Even if completely lacking in expertise and common sense, one could nevertheless obtain the distribution information merely by following appellee's delivery truck. See Carl A. Colteryahn Dairy, Inc. v. Schneider Dairy, 415 Pa. 276, 203 A.2d 469 (1964).

Appellee cites cases in which courts have held that a secret customer list or other trade secret is entitled to injunctive protection. These cases, however, are inapposite because the lists in those cases were not available from public sources, were distillations of larger lists, and great effort and expense went into their preparation. See Unistar Corp. v. Child, 415 So.2d 733 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982); Erik Electric Co. v. Elliott, 375 So.2d 1136 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979); Inland Rubber Corp. v. Hellman, 237 So.2d 291 (Fla. 1st DCA 1970).

There is no other basis upon which the trial court could have imposed its injunction against appellant. There was no covenant not to compete between appellant and either appellee or its predecessor. See Blackstone. Appellant was not an owner of the selling corporation, Steppin' Out, so as to possibly entitle appellee to injunctive relief for impairment of good will. See Yoo Hoo of Florida Corp. v. Catroneo, 175 So.2d 220 (Fla. 3d DCA), cert. denied, 179 So.2d 212 (Fla. 1965). There is no evidence appellant engaged in disloyal acts in anticipation of future competition. See Insurance Field Services, Inc. v. White & White Inspection & Audit Service, Inc., 384 So.2d 303 (Fla. 5th DCA 1980). Since none of these factors are present in this case, and the evidence does not demonstrate that the information on the lists was confidential or was a business or trade secret, we reverse. See Keel v. Quality Medical Systems, Inc., 515 So.2d 337 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987). In light of our holding, we find it unnecessary to reach the other points raised and argued in the briefs.

Reversed with instructions to set aside the injunction entered herein.

CAMPBELL, C.J. and PATTERSON, J., concur.