Universal Alloy wins Alcoa trade

Aug 12, 2023

REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

(Reuters) - Aerospace supplier Universal Alloy on Wednesday persuaded a federal jury in Atlanta to reject accusations from Alcoa spinoffs Arconic Corp (ARNC.N) and Howmet Aerospace (HWM.N) that it stole trade secrets related to aluminum parts used in aircraft wings.

Pittsburgh-based Alcoa sued Universal Alloy in 2015 for allegedly stealing trade secrets related to making the components in order to "siphon away" around $200 million of Alcoa sales to Boeing.

Arconic and Howmet requested more than $264 million in damages, according to a court filing. After a three-week trial, the jury said in its verdict on Wednesday that the companies did not own trade secrets in the technology.

Canton, Georgia-based Universal Alloy's attorney Tony Sammi said in a statement that the jury "reached the right verdict" in deciding that the company did not steal trade secrets and developed its own process for producing the parts.

Representatives for Howmet and Arconic did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the verdict.

The Alcoa spinoffs told the court that Universal Alloy hired away employees with trade secrets related to a process for making "spar chords" used in airplane wings. They said Universal Alloy used the secrets to steal Alcoa's business from Boeing, which had been Alcoa's sole North American customer for the parts for years.

Universal Alloy denied the allegations, arguing the alleged trade secrets were "generally known and readily ascertainable" and that it created its methods for making the spar chords independently.

Universal Alloy is owned by Switzerland-based Montana Aerospace. Alcoa spinoff Arconic Inc split into Arconic Corp and Howmet in 2020.

The case is Arconic Corp v. Universal Alloy Corp, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, No. 1:15-cv-01466.

For Arconic and Howmet: Courtland Reichman of Reichman Jorgensen Lehman & Feldberg

For Universal Alloy: Tony Sammi of Latham & Watkins

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Blake Brittain reports on intellectual property law, including patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets, for Reuters Legal. He has previously written for Bloomberg Law and Thomson Reuters Practical Law and practiced as an attorney. Contact: 12029385713