Popular, Misappropriation, Corporate Counsel

$30 Million Message: Jury Awards Substantial Punitive Damages for Trade Secret Theft

Proskauer - Trade Secrets on 7/11/2025

A nearly decade-long legal battle in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois recently concluded with a significant jury verdict, underscoring the potentially severe consequences of trade secret theft...more

Hermès Successfully Defends its Trademark in the Metaverse

Morrison & Foerster LLP on 2/10/2023

How far does a trademark extend into the digital art world? French luxury fashion brand Hermès sought to answer this question in its precedent-setting case against artist Mason Rothschild, which concluded with a win for...more

“Scraping” of a Publicly-Accessible Website Database May Be Misappropriation of Trade Secrets

Fish & Richardson on 7/14/2020

In a lengthy decision, the Eleventh Circuit held in Compulife v. Newman, No. 18-12004 (11th Cir. May 20, 2020), that a database may contain trade secret information even though the database contents can be accessed through a...more

Federal Judge Confirms that Federal Trade Secret Statute Applies to Misappropriation that Occurs Overseas

Mintz - Intellectual Property Viewpoints on 3/13/2020

Earlier this month, a Northern District of Illinois jury returned a verdict in favor of Motorola for over $700 million after a trial in which Motorola alleged that Hytera hired three engineers away from Motorola’s Malaysian...more

Misappropriators Beware: Motorola Court Embraces Extraterritorial Application of the Defend Trade Secrets Act

K&L Gates LLP on 3/11/2020

On March 5, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois entered a final judgment on a jury verdict of approximately $764.6 million in a high profile trade secret misappropriation case — Motorola...more

Top 10 Developments and Headlines in Trade Secret, Non-Compete, and Computer Fraud Law for 2019 & 2020

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on 2/27/2020

Continuing our annual tradition, we have compiled our top developments and headlines for 2019 & 2020 in trade secret, non-compete, and computer fraud law. Here’s what you need to know to keep abreast of the ever-changing law...more

How Safe Is That Harbor? The Impact of the Defend Trade Secrets Act's Whistleblower Immunity Provision on a Trade Secret Owner's...

Troutman Pepper Locke on 9/13/2019

Imagine that your company has just commenced an internal compliance investigation in response to an allegation that the company is violating various federal laws. The next day, a longtime employee with access to the company’s...more

Unfair Competition: What Happened in 2018, and What's in Store for 2019

Littler on 2/11/2019

From sweeping legislation to unexpected case law, and everything in between, 2018 brought a lot of changes to unfair competition law....more

California Appellate Panel Affirms Injunction Blocking Use Of Employee Non-Solicitation Provision In Dispute Between Travel Nurse...

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on 11/14/2018

On November 1, 2018, the California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District affirmed a trial court’s ruling in AMN Healthcare, Inc. v. Aya Healthcare Services, Inc. et al., Case No. D071924, Cal. App (2018) which (1)...more

The Distributed Ledger: Blockchain, Digital Assets and Smart Contracts

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP on 10/16/2018

This is the inaugural issue of The Distributed Ledger, a periodic publication covering the latest trends and developments in blockchain technology, digital assets and smart contracts. In this edition, we examine a federal...more

Massachusetts Legislature Passes Comprehensive Noncompetition and Trade-Secrets Reform

Foley & Lardner LLP on 8/9/2018

The Massachusetts General Court has passed legislation that, if signed by the governor, will comprehensively reform the law governing employee noncompetition agreements and trade-secret misappropriation. If enacted, these...more

Protecting Artificial Intelligence IP: Patents, Trade Secrets, or Copyrights?

Jones Day on 1/12/2018

The Situation: Artificial intelligence ("AI") technology is exploding across virtually all industries. Technology companies are innovating at warp speed, and even companies that do not principally identify as "technology...more

Don’t “Hire” A Lawsuit: A New Employee’s Misappropriation of Trade Secrets May Quickly Become Your Own

Fisher Phillips on 5/29/2017

Companies commonly assume that they will only be sued for trade secret misappropriation if they or someone from their company steal the “secret sauce” of their competitor. Not true. A far more common way that companies get...more

Federal Copyright Preemption of State Law Claims – Still a Powerful Defense Tool in Commercial Litigation

Fish & Richardson on 11/8/2016

Recently our colleagues Natalie Arbaugh and Rex Mann discussed the Fifth Circuit’s decision in GlobeRanger Corp. v. Software AG USA, Inc., 2016 WL 4698270 (5th Cir., Sept. 7, 2016), focusing on the Court’s discussion of the...more

Fifth Circuit Affirms $15 Million Trade Secret Award

Fish & Richardson on 10/14/2016

On September 7, 2016, the Fifth Circuit in GlobeRanger Corp. v. Software AG affirmed a $15 million judgment in a trade secret case. Although much of the opinion focused on jurisdictional issues, the portion of the opinion on...more

Trade Secrets: Changes In The Law On Protection Of Trade Secrets In The United States And European Union

Ladas & Parry LLP on 9/22/2016

Concerns about trade secret theft have been increasing in both the United States and Europe in recent years. Traditionally, American law disfavored trade secret protection vis à vis patenting on the basis that publication of...more

Court Dismisses Case Filed Under the Defend Trade Secrets Act

Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP on 8/11/2016

Earlier this year, we notified you about the passage of the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (DTSA) and how it affects employers. On August 8, 2016, a U. S. District Judge in the Southern District of Florida dismissed one of...more

A Balanced Trade Secrets Protection Regime Adopted by the EU

McGuireWoods LLP on 6/2/2016

On May 26, 2016, the Council of the EU unanimously adopted the directive on the protection of undisclosed know-how and business information (trade secrets). The directive also provides guidelines for the protection of trade...more

Restrictive Covenants: Do Yours Meet a Changing Landscape?

Epstein Becker & Green on 4/21/2016

Restrictive covenants are an important tool for businesses concerned about the protection of their confidential business information and the costs of employee training and turnover. When properly crafted and utilized,...more

Federal Defend Trade Secrets Act Clears the Senate: Is the Uniform Act on Life Support?

Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP on 4/12/2016

The U.S. Senate has unanimously approved a bill increasing the protections available to companies for their commercial secrets. The Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (DTSA or the Act) provides for the first time a truly...more

Valuable Information Security Lessons from the Olympus Mortgage vs. Guaranteed Rate Case

Baker Donelson on 4/11/2016

Late last month a jury awarded Mount Olympus Mortgage Company (MOMC) more than $25 million for their claims against Guaranteed Rate (Guaranteed), which alleged Guaranteed along with other former employees of MOMC illegally...more

Virtual Learning: The Scope of Preemption Under the California Uniform Trade Secrets Act

Orrick - Trade Secrets Group on 2/11/2016

Companies seeking protection under the California Uniform Trade Secrets Act (“CUTSA”) should consider the effects of CUTSA preemption on their litigation strategy. Under the well-known Silvaco Data System v. Intel Corporation...more

Aviation Contractor Glides Away From Liability After Receiving Unsolicited Email Containing Trade Secrets

Orrick - Trade Secrets Group on 1/29/2016

If a third party sends you someone’s trade secrets, and you delete them as soon as you know they’re trade secrets, you’re off the hook for misappropriation. That, in a nutshell, is what a Florida federal judge held on...more

Eight-Figure Judgments in Trade Secret Cases – Do We Have Your Attention Now?

Burr & Forman on 9/29/2015

The conventional wisdom among attorneys and litigants in the noncompete and trade secret arena is that the cases are all about the injunctions, usually at the TRO and interlocutory injunction stage. Some judgments handed...more

Employee’s LinkedIn Contacts Once Again Become Focus of Trade Secrets Claim

Mintz - Employment, Labor & Benefits... on 9/22/2014

Following up on the piece I wrote with Jim Ninivaggi, “Whose LinkedIn Profile is it Anyway,” the information contained in an employee’s LinkedIn contacts were discussed in the context of trade secrets in a recent California...more

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