The Briefing: The Wrong Argument – Why Authors Lost Against Meta and What Comes Next
Podcast - FTC Commissioner Dismissals: Background and Implications
The Briefing – Late Night, Early Dismissal: The Santos-Kimmel Copyright Case
(Podcast) The Briefing – Late Night, Early Dismissal: The Santos-Kimmel Copyright Case
Fifth Circuit Affirms District Court’s Striking of Class Allegations
Eighth Circuit Reverses Dismissal of Putative Class Claims
Nota Bene Episode 98: The U.S. Supreme Court’s Mark on U.S. Antitrust Law for 2020 with Thomas Dillickrath and Bevin Newman
Class Action Suit Against Instagram for New Terms of Service Dismissed
In a major early-stage win for firm client Bexson Biomedical, Inc., Italy’s Court of Rome recently dismissed the second of two related legal proceedings brought by CyDex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. arising from a 2019 supply...more
On April 22, 2025, the Tenth Circuit affirmed summary judgment in favor of a sales manager and his new employer on claims under the Defend Trade Secrets Act (“DTSA”), the Oklahoma Uniform Trade Secrets Act (“OUTSA”), and...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit affirmed a district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the defendants for the plaintiff’s failure to identify the trade secrets at issue with sufficient particularity....more
The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld a district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the defendants, finding that the plaintiff failed to identify a trade secret and presented no evidence of its use...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed a district court’s denial of a jury trial, concluding it was harmless error because the defendant would have been entitled to a directed verdict regardless. Overwell...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld a federal district court’s dismissal of a case on res judicata grounds after a state court issued a decision on different claims but had concurrent jurisdiction over the...more
On May 23, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania dismissed a trade secret misappropriation claim for failure to identify a trade secret. The case is titled Vertical Bridge REIT, LLC v. Everest...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit dismissed an appeal from the denial of a motion under the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) for an ex parte seizure order, explaining that such orders are not final, not effectively...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed a district court’s dismissal of an unjust enrichment claim, finding that unjust enrichment claims do not necessarily rise or fall with trade secret misappropriation...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit revived a hotel group’s federal trade secret suit against two former employees, finding that the district court did not have enough information to conclude that the hotel group...more
In Vicarious Surgical Inc. v. Beth Tragakis, Judge Salinger, sitting in the Massachusetts Business Litigation Session, dismissed a robotics company’s Chapter 93A claim for lack of any allegations that the robotics company was...more
In a case where the cast of characters on both sides of the v. evolved during the lead-up to the litigation as the litigants negotiated third-party deals and formed new entities, the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit...more
On May 9, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee dismissed a would-be purchaser’s claims against the would-be seller’s lender arising from the lender’s refusal to consent to the sale. Ruby Tuesday,...more
Under conventional pleading standards, courts generally allowed plaintiffs to describe their trade secrets with a level of generality when filing a complaint in a trade secret case. It often sufficed for plaintiffs to provide...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed a district court’s dismissal of a trade secret lawsuit against a consultant that allegedly failed to prevent its client from disclosing its own proprietary information...more
Earlier this year, AbbVie Inc. and AbbVie Biotechnology Ltd. filed a Complaint against Alvotech hf. in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois alleging theft of trade secrets relating to adalimumab. In...more
In November 2018, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions launched the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) China Initiative, to prevent, combat, and prosecute theft of intellectual property, technology, trade secrets, and other...more
In a recent published, precedential opinion, Oakwood Laboratories LLC v. Thanoo, 999 F.3d 892 (3d Cir. 2021), the Third Circuit clarified the pleading standard necessary to allege a trade secret misappropriation claim under...more
Welcome to The Franchise Memorandum by Lathrop GPM. Below are summaries of recent legal developments of interest to franchisors. Post-Termination Injunction: Noncompete Covenants - California Federal Court Enforces...more
The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California recently denied a motion to dismiss a claim brought under the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA). In Falcon Woods, LLC v. Gooding & Co., Case No. 2:20-cv-02226-SVW,...more
In a misappropriation of trade secrets action, a franchisor sued a prospective franchisee, claiming breach of a non-disclosure agreement ("NDA") by operating a competing business. The prospective franchisee signed the NDA...more
On September 2, 2020, the Fifth Circuit declined to void a fee award of nearly $2.3 million in favor of an employer that had prevailed on its trade secret theft claim against its former employee, because the employee...more
It’s common sense that, to protect a trade secret, the information must remain secret. However, when trade secret misappropriation claims arise and litigation ensues, the court and the parties involved need to understand at...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed a dismissal of a complaint for failing to state a claim under FRCP 12(b)(6), finding error in the district court’s use of judicial notice to do fact-finding outside the...more
Absent an agreement to the contrary, the dismissal of a statutory cause of action providing for attorneys’ fees to the prevailing party would seem to entitle a defendant to its reasonable fees and costs. In a matter of first...more