Cuando la marca viaja en turista y sin registro
Is My Guitar Pedal a Klone or a Counterfeit? — No Infringement Intended Podcast
Employment Law Now VIII-150 - The FTC Noncompete Rule is Dead: What Now?
Balch’s Decision Dive: Texas Trial Court Struck Down the FTC’s Noncompete Rule
5 Key Takeaways | Recent Developments in United States Trademark and Unfair Competition Law
The FTC Issued a New Rule to Ban All New Noncompete Agreements
3 Key Takeaways | New York State Bar Association IP Section Annual Meeting
Trade Secret Two-Step: Part 2
Trade Secret Two-Step: Part 1
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Trending Now: An IP Podcast - False and Misleading Advertising, Label Review
JONES DAY TALKS®: 75 Years of the Lanham Act and Changes in U.S. Trademark Law
A California state jury awarded Propel Fuels, Inc. $604.9 million in damages after finding Phillips 66 Company liable for trade secret misappropriation. Propel Fuels, Inc. v. Phillips 66 Co., Case No. 22CV007197 (Cal. Oct....more
Just in time for grilling season in the Midwest, Hormel Foods Corporation (“Hormel”) filed a federal lawsuit in the District of Minnesota against its competitor, Johnsonville, LLC (“Johnsonville”), and two former Hormel...more
Piracy is defined as robbery by ship- or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, with a goal of stealing cargo or other valuables. During the Golden Age of Piracy, from the 1680s to the 1720s, infamous...more
The French High Court has just handed down a ruling confirming the weakening of the force of business secrecy in the name of the right to evidence principle, based on the right to a fair trial found in article 6 of the...more
A recent federal district court ruling serves as an important reminder that a former employee may be held liable for trade secret misappropriation even if the alleged trade secrets are not physically or electronically taken...more
In Valkyrie AI LLC v. PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP, 2024 N.Y. Slip Op. 06141 (1st Dept. Dec. 5, 2024) (here), the Appellate Division, First Department affirmed an order involving claims for unfair competition, tortious...more
Everyone is talking about the new rule approved by the Federal Trade Commission on April 23 (published on May 7 and set to take effect – pending legal challenges – on September 4, 2024 ). It is referred to as the...more
On April 23, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a final rule that would ban the use of noncompete agreements in most employment contracts nationwide. Hailed by the Commission as a measure to promote competition,...more
How do you protect trade secrets? You take reasonable efforts to maintain the secrecy of the information. As we have outlined in prior installments of this series, taking reasonable efforts to maintain secrecy is a key issue...more
Can you get a court to stop someone from sharing customer/client lists in Arkansas? As explained in this blog post, it depends. But often the question is debatable and hiring an attorney experienced in unfair competition...more
California passed new laws reiterating its prohibition on employment-related non-competition obligations. Assembly Bill 1076, effective January 1, 2024, provides that it is unlawful to include noncompete clauses in employment...more
On Thursday, January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published a proposed rule that would invalidate existing non-competition agreements and prohibit employers from entering into new non-competition agreements,...more
Will Coppertone Get Burned for Its Labels? Consumer class action alleges sunscreens are all the same - It’s Not Much, But It’s Something - Through the years, Coppertone - the sun protection products brand owned...more
In this two-part podcast, Jackie Johnson, Co-Chair of Constangy’s Trade Secrets and Unfair Competition Practice Group and Partner in Constangy’s Dallas, Texas, office, visits with Bill McMahon about the ins-and-outs of trade...more
Courts are increasingly scrutinizing agreements that extend beyond what is necessary to protect bona fide confidential information and trade secrets. The recent decision in Hamilton v. Juul Labs, Inc., Case No....more
The MUTSA became effective on October 1, 2018. It largely tracks the language of the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (UTSA). In a case of first impression, the District of Massachusetts considered whether the recently enacted...more
The Situation: China's legislature has recently eased the challenge of prosecuting trade secret misappropriation cases in that country. The Result: As recently amended, Chinese law now follows some case law developments...more
When hiring new employees – especially those who are currently employed or who recently have been employed by a competing company or organization – it’s always a best practice to ask them if they are subject to an employment...more
At the end of 2019, Coty Inc. (“Coty”) expanded its brand portfolio by closing a notable $600 million deal for a majority stake in reality star Kylie Jenner’s young cosmetics company, King Kylie LLC (d/b/a Kylie Cosmetics)....more
Businesses are increasingly turning to trade secrets as a mechanism to protect their innovations and know-how. In some cases, trade secrets offer an attractive alternative to patent protection. Companies also recognize the...more
A federal court of appeals recently found that there was nothing wrong with a company monitoring a departed employee’s Facebook account and using that information to pursue a trade secrets claim against four former employees....more
A decade ago, I litigated a trade secret/unfair competition dispute between two large plastics manufacturers. The Plaintiff was based in southwest Florida, the Defendant in southern Alabama. The factual dispute is...more
Trade secrets derive their commercial value from being secret. When trade secrets are misappropriated, litigation may be necessary to stop a competitor from exploiting them in the marketplace. Yet litigating...more
A Texas Court of Appeals held on August 22, 2016, that a former employer was entitled to $2.8 million in attorney’s fees against a former employee who used the employer’s information to compete against it. The Court reached...more
Cat product service provider KitNipBox sued rival Meowbox in federal court in Washington alleging that Meowbox hacked into KitNipBox’s website to steal its trade secrets and confidential information and to disrupt its...more