We are seeing a steep increase in restrictive covenants legislation across the country with laws and enforceability widely varied from state to state. So how do companies that have seen their workforce distributed in more...more
Last year, the California Supreme Court held in Ixchel Pharma, LLC v. Biogen, Inc., that restraints in contracts between businesses should be evaluated using the same “rule of reason” standard that courts use to analyze...more
Often companies are faced with a dilemma in protecting their IP—should the company disclose its IP to the world and seek a patent that will protect its IP for a set number of years? Or, should the company keep the IP a secret...more
8/25/2020
/ Affirmative Defenses ,
America Invents Act ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inventions ,
IP License ,
Patent Applications ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Ownership ,
Patents ,
Trade Secrets ,
USPTO
Trade secret protections are a powerful tool for companies seeking to police international theft of their intellectual property.
The United States International Trade Commission (“ITC”) recently re-affirmed this, when...more
8/25/2020
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
Imports ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
International Trade Commission (ITC) ,
Jurisdiction ,
Misappropriation ,
Section 337 ,
Subject Matter Jurisdiction ,
Trade Secrets
During the course of a trade secrets litigation, neglecting to preserve electronically stored information (“ESI”) may result in a finding of spoliation. In a recent Order issued by Judge Edward Davila (United States District...more
COVID-19 has presented countless challenges, among them, the extraordinary need—and conversely, extreme shortages—of basic protective gear, ventilators, and personal protective equipment (“PPEs”) for healthcare professionals...more
Loyal readers are familiar with the DOJ’s “China Initiative,” launched in November 2018 to prosecute the theft of U.S. trade secrets by or for Chinese interests. Attorney General Barr reaffirmed the DOJ’s commitment “to...more
3/10/2020
/ Bank Fraud ,
China ,
Confidential Information ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Espionage Act ,
Equifax ,
Espionage ,
Extradition ,
Hackers ,
Huawei ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Misappropriation ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Proprietary Information ,
Racketeering ,
Social Security Numbers ,
T-Mobile ,
Telecommunications ,
Trade Secrets ,
White Collar Crimes
In the midst of nationwide efforts to reform the use of non-compete restrictions, a recent decision from the Eastern District of Pennsylvania illustrates the broad approach courts may take when enforcing restrictive covenants...more
You are a state-government contractor. You respond to an RFP issued by a state-government entity. In your bid proposal, you submit documents that contain your trade secrets. You do not get the contract, but you later learn...more
Trade Secrets Watch has been covering the escalating economic tension between China and the U.S., including the U.S. Trade Representative’s investigation on China’s alleged IP theft under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974,...more
5/21/2019
/ China ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cyber Espionage ,
Executive Orders ,
Huawei ,
Imports ,
National Security ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Telecommunications ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies ,
USTR
With the holidays behind us and our calendars flipped over to 2019, we’re taking a look back at some key trade secrets developments of the past year. ...more
As we previously reported, on August 14, 2017, President Trump signed an executive memo asking U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to determine whether to launch an investigation into China’s alleged theft of...more
1/22/2018
/ China ,
Executive Orders ,
Government Investigations ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Misappropriation ,
Section 301 ,
Trade Act of 1974 ,
Trade Secrets ,
Trump Administration ,
USTR ,
WTO
Start-ups often face a complex relationship with their trade secrets. Many of the strengths of early stage start-ups, such as collaborative work among a small number of business partners and open access to proprietary...more
Recently, popular Southern California juice and aguas frescas chain Green Crush filed suit against up-and-coming rival juice bar Paradise Splash and several individuals. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the...more
11/20/2017
/ Best Practices ,
Breach of Contract ,
Confidential Information ,
Confidentiality Agreements ,
Espionage ,
Exit Interviews ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Misappropriation ,
Point of Sale Terminals ,
Proprietary Information ,
Risk Management ,
Trade Secrets
For trade secret owners, international IP theft is of particular concern because of the difficulty in catching and enforcing remedies against the thieves. For many U.S. companies with a global reach, an overriding concern...more
The Waymo v. Uber trade secrets litigation has been underway for less than two months but the case has already hit quite few speed bumps with multiple discovery battles, Waymo’s efforts to obtain a preliminary injunction from...more
With all the hubbub over the Presidential election, it would not be hard to overlook some of the Obama administration’s final moves. Recently, the White House issued a call to action to state legislators to ban non-compete...more
11/16/2016
/ Confidential Information ,
Contract Terms ,
Employment Contract ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Low-Wage Workers ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Obama Administration ,
Popular ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Trade Secrets ,
Wage and Hour
Expectations didn’t appear high for the latest round of China-U.S. talks about a variety of economic issues including trade secret protection. As previously discussed at TSW, China had not signed onto the Trans-Pacific...more
We rely on the federal government for a lot of things, but helping a corporation recover attorney’s fees is not something that immediately comes to mind. ...more
State court or federal court? If the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2014 (DTSA) (S. 2267, introduced on April 29, 2014) becomes law, then trade secrets plaintiffs — not just those who can maintain diversity jurisdiction — could...more
When you think of gyms, romance, and reality TV, what’s most likely to come to mind is an episode of Jersey Shore — not a lawsuit for trade secret misappropriation. But you won’t hear about JWoww, Snooki, or The Situation in...more
The recent arrest and likely prosecution of three executives at Taiwanese smartphone giant HTC Corporation may foreshadow an era of tougher prosecutions under Taiwan’s newly amended Trade Secrets Act. Although the arrests...more