The plaintiff, Orpheus Medica Inc., sought an interlocutory injunction to restrain former employees and their new company, Deep Biologics Inc., from using a government grant and competing in the development of a COVID-19 rapid diagnostic test.
The plaintiff alleged breach of restrictive covenants, misappropriation of confidential information, and breach of fiduciary and employment duties.
The court applied the strong prima facie case standard because the injunction would effectively be a final determination and restrain competition.
The court found the plaintiff failed to establish a strong prima facie case, noting credibility issues with the plaintiff's evidence regarding employment agreements and a lack of evidence of misappropriation.
The court also found no irreparable harm and that the balance of convenience strongly favoured the defendants, particularly given the public interest in developing COVID-19 testing.
