Functional Products, Inc., an Ohio-based lubrication engineering company, has filed a lawsuit against a former employee and his new business venture for allegedly breaching confidentiality agreements and misappropriating trade secrets. The complaint was filed on December 19, 2025, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio against Gavin Duckworth and NRTech USA Inc.
The case centers around accusations that after leaving Functional Products in April 2022, Gavin Duckworth took proprietary information from the company to start his own competing business. According to the complaint, Duckworth used confidential data such as customer lists, pricing strategies, and a unique business model developed by Functional Products to establish NRTech USA Inc., also known as Novel Reliable Technologies. This move allegedly violated several legal protections including the Ohio Uniform Trade Secrets Act and the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act.
Functional Products claims that Duckworth had access to sensitive trade secrets during his tenure as Vice President of National Accounts. These included intellectual property and marketing strategies crucial to their competitive edge in developing high viscosity polymer-based additives. Despite signing a Proprietary Information, Inventions and Non-Solicitation Agreement with Functional Products in September 2017, which barred him from using or disclosing proprietary information for personal gain or competing with the company for one year post-employment, Duckworth is accused of violating these terms.
The lawsuit details how Duckworth allegedly solicited clients from Functional Products by undercutting prices using insider knowledge. Notably, he is said to have reduced sales prices by $0.66 per pound on products like Functional V-4004A and caused Pinnacle Oil Holdings LLC to cease orders from Functional Products entirely. The plaintiff asserts that this undercutting strategy was made possible through stolen trade secrets and proprietary information.
In addition to monetary damages exceeding $75,000 for lost business opportunities and harm caused by unfair competition practices, Functional Products seeks injunctive relief to prevent further use or disclosure of its confidential information by Duckworth and NRTech USA Inc. They are also pursuing punitive damages due to what they describe as willful misconduct by the defendants.
The legal representation for Functional Products is provided by attorneys Sara H. Jodka and Manuel D. Cardona from Dickinson Wright PLLC. The case is being overseen by Judge Edmund A. Sargus Jr., with Case ID: 2:25-cv-01485-EAS-KAJ.
Source: 225cv01485_Functional_Products_Inc_v_Duckworth_Complaint_Southern_District_Ohio.pdf