Copart, Inc. v. Sparta Consulting, Inc.

277 F. Supp. 3d 1127
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. California
DecidedSeptember 26, 2017
DocketNo. 2:14-cv-00046-KJM-CKD
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 277 F. Supp. 3d 1127 (Copart, Inc. v. Sparta Consulting, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Copart, Inc. v. Sparta Consulting, Inc., 277 F. Supp. 3d 1127 (E.D. Cal. 2017).

Opinion

ORDER

Kimberly J. Mueller, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

An online vehicle auction company hired a software development company to design and build its new online system, but when the project did not go as planned the auction company terminated the contract and the parties sued each other. The auction company, plaintiff Copart, Inc. (“Co-part”), moves for summary judgment on counter-claims brought by the software development company, defendant Sparta Consulting, Inc. (“Sparta”), and for partial summary judgment on elements of its own claims. Copart Mot., ECF No. 197. Sparta, along with its parent companies, defendants KPIT Infosystems, Inc. (“KPIT In-fosystems”) and India-based KPIT Technologies, Ltd. (“KPIT India”), move for summary judgment on Copart’s claims. Sparta Mot., ECF No. 184; KPIT India Mot., ECF No. 185; KPIT Infosystems Mot., ECF No. 186. For the reasons explained below, the court GRANTS IN PART and DENIES IN PART each motion.

Table of Contents

I. Factual Background... 1137

A. The Parties and the Project.. .1138

B. The Contract and Design Statement... 1138

C. The Build Statement and Contract Amendment.. .1138

D. Termination and the Lawsuits. ..1139

II. Procedural Background... 1139

A. Procedural History... 1139

B. Copart’s and Claims... 1139 Sparta’s

III. Summary Judgment... 1140

IV. Contract-Related Claims... 1141

A. The Implementation Agreement.. .1141 Services

B. Sparta’s Motion... 1141

C. Copart’s Motion on Claims. 1144 Copart’s

D. Copart’s Motion on Claims... 1144 Sparta’s

V. Fraud-Related Claims... 1148

A Fraud under California Law... 1148

B. Sparta’s Motion... 1149

C. Copart’s Motion... 1152

D. Derivative Claims.. .1152

VI. Trade Secrets... 1153

A. Factual Background... 1153

B. Trade Secrets Generally... 1153

C. Copart’s Trade Secrets.. .1153

D. Copart’s Ownership of the Trade Secrets... 1155

E. Copart’s Damages... 1155

VII. Preemption.. .1156

A. CUTSA Preemption... 1156

B. Common Law Misappropriation. ..1158

C. Conversion,.. 1158

D. Unfair Competition and Unjust Enrichment. ..1160

E. Professional Negligence... 1160

F. Conclusion... 1160

VIII. Computer Hacking Claims... 1161

A. CFAA and CDAFA Generally... 1161

B. Copart’s Evidence of Computer Hacking.. .1161

IX. Professional Negligence.. .1162

A. Relation Back Generally... 1163

B. Initial Matters... 1163

C. Relation Back Here... 1164

X. KPIT Entities... 1165

XI. Conclusion... 1166

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

The following facts are not disputed unless otherwise noted. See A.G. v. Paradise Valley Unified Sch. Dist. No. 69, 815 F.3d 1195, 1202 (9th Cir. 2016).

A. The Parties and the Project

Copart is a publicly traded company that sells more than two million vehicles per year. Sparta’s Statement of Undisputed Facts (“SSUF”) 2, ECF No. 187. To auction vehicles online, Copart uses its self-developed Enterprise Resource Planning (“ERP”) system called Copart Auction System (or “CAS”). SSUF 3. Copárt began using CAS in, 1997.. SSUF 4; Takenouchi Decl. Ex. 173 at 19:3-21, ECF No. 222-8.

In 2011, Copart sought a software development company to help replace Copart Auction System with a different software language made by SAP.1 SSUF 5. The new system was to be called “AIMOS,” for Auction Inventory Management and Operating System. After initially hiring Accenture, LLP (“Accenture”) to design and build AIMOS, Copart fired Accenture and split the contract into two phases, a design phase and a build phase, with a bidding process for each phase. SSUF 6, '9.

B. The Contract and Design Statement

After considering bids from three firms, Copart selected Sparta, a California corporation that designs and implements SAP-based ERP software solutions, to design AIMOS. SSUF 1, 10. On October 6, 2011, Copart and Sparta signed the Implementation Services Agreement (“the Contract” or “ISA”). SSUF 13; see also Takenouchi Decl. Ex. 2 (ISA), ECF No. 198-2. Under the Contract, Sparta promised to complete work laid out in the Design Project Statement of Work (“Design Statement”), which the parties also signed on October 6. SSUF 26. The Design Statement outlines a twenty-week project and details three milestones for Sparta’s design of AIMOS during that time. Takenouchi Decl. Ex. 3 (Design Statement), ECF No. 198-3; SSUF 27. Each milestone in the Design Statement includes technical requirements, a completion schedule, and a fixed fee conditioned on Copart’s review and acceptance. SSUF 29. Copart agreed to pay' $3,250,000 for the first three milestones and an additional $1,400,000 for a fourth milestone the parties later added. Design Statement at 26; ISA § 9.1; SSUF 28; Llewellyn Decl. Ex. I (Change Request Form), ECF No. 196-9.

Between December 2011 and March 2012, Copart accepted in writing and paid for the first four milestones (Milestones 1 through 4), all related to AIMÓS’s design. SSUF 31-41. Copart contends Sparta fraudulently induced Copart’s acceptance of these milestones. See Opp’n to Sparta at 15-16, ECF No. 209 (alleging six instances of Sparta’s fraud).

C.The Build Statement and Contract Amendment

On March 28, 2012, after considering bids from several firms to actually build AIMOS, Copart again selected Sparta.

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Bluebook (online)
277 F. Supp. 3d 1127, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/copart-inc-v-sparta-consulting-inc-caed-2017.