Phillips 66 Hit With More Damages for Trade Secret Theft (1)

A judge in California ordered Phillips 66 to pay an additional $195 million in punitive damages on top of an earlier $604.9 million trade secret theft verdict for what he called “reprehensible” conduct that nearly destroyed a much smaller fuel company.

Last year, a state court jury in Oakland found Phillips misappropriated trade secrets from a low-carbon fuel provider that it considered acquiring as it was preparing to move into the California renewables market. Instead, the refiner stole confidential business information from Propel Fuels Inc., using it to “go it alone” in renewable and ethanol-based diesel fuels.

“Phillips 66 ...