What the court did
The court vacated provisions barring work on a competitor’s contract and allowing broad forensic imaging because irreparable harm was speculative and the inspection terms were overbroad.
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
Sixth Circuit Vacates Overbroad Trade-Secret Injunction Against Electrical Contractor
The Sixth Circuit rejected speculative competitive harm and required narrower limits on forensic inspection of devices, cloud accounts, and personal information.
Case record
Authority before analysis.
- Court
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
- Docket
- No. 25-6123
- Decision
- September 17, 2026
- Posture
- Interlocutory appeal from a preliminary injunction; challenged injunction provisions vacated and remanded.
- Status
- Published, precedential federal appellate decision.
Why operators should care
Electrical, utility, infrastructure, and industrial employers should document concrete competitive harm and narrowly define device, custodian, and data access in trade-secret disputes.
What remains unresolved
The court did not decide whether trade secrets were misappropriated or whether the underlying contract and statutory claims will succeed.
Primary record
Read the opinion.
This update identifies the court, posture, holding, and unresolved questions. The linked opinion remains the controlling source.
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