Rule 50(b), Meet Rule 50(a)

“Hughes asserts there was insufficient evidence to establish that Pearcy had any trade secrets or that Hughes and Performance Probiotics improperly used any of Pearcy’s trade secrets. But Hughes did not raise these challenges in her oral [Fed. R. Civ. P.] 50(a) motion at trial. Instead, Hughes ‘move[d] for [a] directed verdict on the misappropriation of trade secrets [claim] on the ground[ ] that there [was] no evidence of an appropriate measure of damages for that cause of action,’ an argument she renewed in her Rule 50(b) motion and likewise urges here. Because Hughes did not challenge the existence of a trade secret or improper use in her initial Rule 50(a) motion, those issues were not properly raised in her post-trial Rule 50(b) motion. We therefore decline to address them on appeal.”

Thomas v. Hughes, No. 20-50671 (March 3, 2022).