Payscale Inc v. Salary.com LLC

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE PAYSCALE, INC., CASE NO. 2:25-cv-00237-LK Plaintiff, ORDER REQUESTING 12 v. SUPPLEMENTAL BRIEFING 13 SALARY.COM, LLC, Defendant.

This matter comes before the Court sua sponte. On May 27, 2025, Plaintiff Payscale, Inc. filed a Motion to Dismiss Defendant Salary.com, LLC’s Counterclaims or Alternatively for a More Definite Statement. Dkt. No. 22. In relevant part, the motion states that—under the Defend Trade Secrets Act (“DTSA”)—“[t]he boundaries of the alleged trade secrets must be described with particularity,” which Payscale says Salary.com fails to do. Id. at 8–12. Salary.com objects to this point of law, stating that “nothing in the DTSA requires pleading a trade secret with the particularity Payscale demands.” Dkt. No. 25 at 16–17.

1 On August 12, 2025, the Ninth Circuit issued a precedential opinion addressing the level of particularity required under the DTSA. Quintara Biosciences, Inc. v. Ruifeng Biztech, Inc., No. 23-16093, 2025 WL 2315671 (9th Cir. Aug. 12, 2025). Considering this development, the Court ORDERS each party to provide a supplemental brief of up to 2,100 words within 21 days of this Order addressing whether Quintara affects its position on the pending motion.

6 Dated this 25th day of September, 2025.

7 A 8 Lauren King United States District Judge