Applied Predictive Technologies v. MarketDial — Fed. Cir. (Oct 8, 2026)

The Federal Circuit hears Applied Predictive Technologies versus MarketDial, a dispute over legal fees between rival business-analytics companies. APT licenses Test and Learn, software for testing business initiatives. A former McKinsey consultant had obtained its confidential materials. APT sued MarketDial in twenty eighteen, alleging misuse of trade secrets. After years of discovery, the Utah district court ruled that APT had not adequately identified a legally protected trade secret. A prior appeal upheld that result. This argument concerns a separate order requiring APT to pay the defendants' legal fees. The judge found that APT had pursued the claims in bad faith to harm a competitor. APT disputes that finding. The federal Defend Trade Secrets Act and Utah's Uniform Trade Secrets Act permit fees for bad-faith claims. Under the test used here, an objectively specious claim looks plausible but lacks supporting evidence; subjective misconduct concerns an improper litigation motive. Losing alone is not enough. Counsel for APT will argue that continuing to investigate confidential files was reasonable, not bad faith.
Applied Predictive Technologies v. MarketDial (No. 25-1713) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, argued October 8, 2026.
Sources:
Argument audio — Federal Circuit court original; all advocacy is complete; the official file truncates only the judge's final administrative closing-word tail:
https://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/oral-arguments/25-1713_10082026.mp3
Argument date and recording — Federal Circuit official table:
https://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/home/oral-argument/listen-to-oral-arguments/
Appealed attorneys' fee order — District of Utah, March 25, 2025; public court-document copy:
https://cases.justia.com/federal/district-courts/utah/utdce/2%3A2019cv00496/115695/708/0.pdf
Underlying case background — District of Utah amended summary-judgment order, August 12, 2024:
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-utd-2_19-cv-00496/pdf/USCOURTS-utd-2_19-cv-00496-8.pdf
Prior merits appeal, not this fee appeal — Federal Circuit No. 24-1751, January 28, 2026:
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-ca13-24-01751/pdf/USCOURTS-ca13-24-01751-0.pdf
Federal fee provision — 18 U.S.C. § 1836(b)(3)(D), official 2024 U.S. Code:
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2024-title18/pdf/USCODE-2024-title18-partI-chap90-sec1836.pdf
Utah fee provision — Utah Code § 13-24-5, public 2025 statute copy:
https://law.justia.com/codes/utah/title-13/chapter-24/section-5/
Test and Learn — Mastercard product description:
https://www.mastercard.com/global/en/business/insights-intelligence/advanced-analytics/solutions/test-learn.html
MarketDial — company product background:
https://marketdial.com/about-us/
Keith Call — Spencer Fane biography:
https://www.spencerfane.com/professionals/keith-call/
Third-party beneficiary — Cornell Legal Information Institute:
https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/third-party_beneficiary