After being slapped with a post-trial judgment last April totaling $2.2 million for misappropriation of confidential and proprietary information, two Wyoming bank executives were named in an unprecedented “Notice of Intent to...more
3/14/2019
/ Banks ,
Breach of Duty ,
Confidential Information ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Federal Reserve ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
FSB ,
Misappropriation ,
Orders of Prohibition ,
Post-Trial Order ,
Proprietary Information ,
Trade Secrets
The Vermont Legislature kicked off 2019 with bill H.1, seeking to ban non-competes in the Green Mountain State. The new bill has been filed by Martin LaLonde, who promulgated an identical bill last January. ...more
A government contractor learned the hard way that bid documents containing trade secrets are not protected from disclosure in Massachusetts. On September 21, 2018, a Massachusetts U.S. District Court judge ruled that the...more
A Massachusetts Federal Court recently enjoined the former Director of Research and Development and Quality Assurance of National Fish & Seafood, Inc. (“National Fish”) from working for a competing seafood supplier based in...more
9/21/2018
/ Employee Handbooks ,
Employees ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Fishing Industry ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Material Dissemination ,
Misappropriation ,
Proprietary Information ,
Terms and Conditions ,
Trade Secrets
Tervis Tumbler Company, the maker of the infamous insulated tumblers, has found itself in hot water with a former supplier, Trinity Graphic. ...more
3/8/2018
/ Aiding and Abetting ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Civil Conspiracy ,
Compensatory Damages ,
Confidential Information ,
Confidentiality Agreements ,
Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) ,
Disgorgement ,
Fraud ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Misappropriation ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Punitive Damages ,
Trade Secrets
On December 6-8, the inaugural Sedona Conference on trade secrets took place in Scottsdale, Arizona. The invitation-only conference brought together outside counsel, in-house counsel, and experts to have an in-depth...more
On Monday, January 29th, Faraday & Future Inc., the electric car manufacturer founded by Chinese billionaire and entrepreneur Jia Yueting, filed a one-count Defend Trade Secrets Act complaint against Evelozcity, Inc., an...more
In a meaty decision involving the intersection of restrictive covenant and franchise law, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio recently denied a request by D.P. Dough Franchising, LLC (“D.P....more
12/15/2017
/ Breach of Contract ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Franchise Agreements ,
Franchisee ,
Franchises ,
Franchisors ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Misappropriation ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Tortious Interference ,
Trade Dress ,
Trade Secrets ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Unfair Competition ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices ,
Unjust Enrichment
The Massachusetts legislature is back at it again. Under new leadership, the Joint Committee on Labor & Workforce Development recently scheduled a hearing for October 31, 2017 on the non-compete reform bills proposed in...more
The Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) states very clearly that an injunction issued pursuant thereto may not “prevent a person from entering into an employment relationship,” and that any conditions placed on a former...more
7/12/2017
/ Confidential Information ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Inevitable Disclosure Doctrine ,
Injunctions ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Misappropriation ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Non-Solicitation Agreements ,
Trade Secrets ,
TRO
Last Friday, on January 20, 2017, the Massachusetts Legislature began its annual tradition of attempting to promulgate non-compete and trade secret reform in the Commonwealth. A new bill has been filed by the same legislators...more
This past Spring, we reported on the recently enacted Defend Trade Secrets Act (“DTSA”), which provides a new federal civil cause of action to trade secret owners seeking to pursue claims of trade secret misappropriation. ...more
12/21/2016
/ Affirmative Defenses ,
Confidential Information ,
Conversion ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) ,
Evidence ,
Immunity ,
Misappropriation ,
Motion to Compel ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Trade Secrets ,
Whistleblowers
As the Obama administration winds down, its regulators are showing no signs of letting up. Last week the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) decided that it should no longer be constrained by its subpoena power...more
11/11/2016
/ Algorithmic Trading ,
Barack Obama ,
CFTC ,
Commodity Futures Contracts ,
Due Process ,
ETFs ,
New Regulations ,
Popular ,
Public Comment ,
Subpoenas ,
Trade Secrets ,
Trump Administration
Fresh off of signing the Defend Trade Secrets Act, the White House released a report yesterday entitled “Non-Compete Reform: A Policymaker’s Guide to State Policies,” which contains information on state policies related to...more
Although stealing bases, and even signs, in baseball may be part of the game, stealing another team’s trade secrets can land you in federal prison, as one executive recently learned the hard way.
As we previously...more
The U.S. Department of Treasury recently released a study on the effect of non-compete agreements, taking a hard line with respect to their social and economic benefits and purported harms. Specifically, while the authors of...more
Throughout 2015, Seyfarth Shaw’s dedicated Trade Secrets, Computer Fraud & Non-Competes Practice Group hosted a series of CLE webinars that addressed significant issues facing clients today in this important and ever-changing...more
Several members of Seyfarth’s Trade Secrets, Computer Fraud & Non-Competes Practice Group attended the AIPLA’s annual Trade Secret Law Summit on November 12-13, 2015. Rick Lutkus spoke on a panel that was moderated by Erik...more
Generally when one refers to “competitors” in the context of protecting trade secrets, it is in regard to business competitors, not competing sports teams. And usually when the talking heads on sports radio and television...more