Snapchat has filed for a temporary restraining order against ousted co-founder Frank Reginald Brown aka Reggie Brown, who alleges that he is the brains behind the idea of disappearing messages.
Snapchat is a service that enables users to send photo messages. It was started in 2011 by Stanford University students Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy and Reggie Brown and is popular with young adults. Those who use the service can set a time limit up to a maximum of 10 seconds for how long the photo messages are viewable before they vanish. Earlier in November, Snapchat had rejected a $3 billion acquisition offer from Facebook.
Per court documents that were filed in California on Friday, December 7, Brown allegedly leaked confidential information pertaining to the company to the press. This led to Snapchat filing a motion in court.
According to Snapchat, Brown leaked the deposition testimony "Snapchat had designated as confidential under the Protective Order entered in this case."
"The requested relief is necessary to prevent great or irreparable injury to Snapchat. Snapchat has produced substantial amounts of commercially sensitive and private information in this case, including among other things highly confidential financial and investment information related to Snapchat's business, sensitive information regarding Snapchat's business plans, and private, personal communications of individual third parties subject to rights of privacy under the California Constitution. Plaintiff and his counsel purport to reserve the right to disclose any and all such information to the public at any time. Indeed, plaintiff has apparently scheduled imminent "exclusive" interviews with additional media outlets to discuss this case. In the absence of the relief sought, it is highly likely that plaintiff and his counsel will commit additional violations of the Protective Order," reads SnapChat's filing.
Per Quinn Emanuel, Snapchat's counsel, Brown has declined to comply with the Protective Order which relegates pretty much all the information pertaining to the case as confidential.
Brown admits to having leaked information to media, which include deposition videos obtained by Business Insider. Moreover, per the filing, Brown says he "reserves the right" to disclose information to the public.
In the event the court grants a temporary restraining order and the preliminary injunction request, the ousted co-founder Brown and his lawyers will be liable to pay fines, contempt sanctions and several other punishments, including reimbursement of resources. Chances of the lawsuit getting dismissed altogether also exist.
Per the defendant Brown's law firm Lee Tran Liang & Wang, they will have to file a response on Monday, December 16. Brown will be suing Snapchat for breach of partnership agreement.
