On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission narrowly approved a rule banning most non-competition agreements. The rule, set to go into effect on September 4, 2024, prohibits employers from including non-compete provisions...more
In today’s highly competitive business environment, it is crucial for a company to safeguard its intellectual property to maintain a competitive edge and ensure long-term success. But what is the best way to do that? ...more
Baker Donelson recently published an article called "The End of Non-Competition Agreements? Not so Fast!" The article summarizes the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) final rule prohibiting most employers from binding the...more
The Eastern District of New York recently highlighted the importance of maintaining the confidentiality of trade secrets where the underlying trade secrets are readily apparent to anyone interacting with the holder’s product....more
On January 24, 2022, the Federal Circuit affirmed the grant of a preliminary injunction blocking the publication of a patent application on the basis that it contained the plaintiff, Masimo Corp.’s trade secrets. Masimo Corp....more
After a four day bench trial on August 10, 2021, a Houston federal judge ruled that the conceptual designs an oil and gas manufacturing company disclosed to its erstwhile collaborator under an NDA were not eligible for trade...more
Trade secrets and patents offer very different forms of protection, with different pros and cons. A trade secret may last indefinitely, while a patent has a fixed term of 20 years. Independent reinvention is permissible under...more
For most (if not all) professional services firms, client databases, client contact lists, and information reflecting client preferences are regarded by such firms as trade secrets that are essential to the business. ...more
In Payward, Inc. v. Runyon, Case No. 20-cv-02130-MMC, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California granted a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, ruling that information alleged to be “secret” failed to qualify...more
Why should companies considering trade secret litigation consider their patent portfolios? After all, trade secrets, by definition, are secret. They have value in the marketplace by virtue of not being disclosed. And like the...more
In part 1, I reviewed patents and copyrights. In this post, I will discuss trade secrets, IP rights, and other protection measures. Trade Secrets - No federal or state statute expressly addresses initial ownership of...more
Last week, we examined the recent Third Circuit decision in Advanced Fluid Systems, which held that a trade secrets plaintiff did not need to be an owner or a licensee of the alleged trade secrets to bring a state law...more
Trade secret litigation in California is growing, in both volume and impact. The second-largest plaintiffs’ verdict in 2019 was $845 million, as reported by the Daily Journal, which was awarded to ASML, a Dutch semiconductor...more
Fear of the coronavirus is causing many employers to permit—or in some cases mandate—employees to work remotely. While this measure is designed to minimize the risk of virus transmission, it presents an altogether different...more
As artificial intelligence systems become more prevalent in daily life, efforts to create a unifying set of AI principles have intensified. In the past few months, at least three major works have been published on the issue....more
It was reported recently that certain universities and medical research centers in the U.S. made adverse employment decisions against several Chinese-American scientists who were suspected of disclosing confidential...more
The California Uniform Trade Secrets Act (CUTSA) provides various remedies for misappropriation of a trade secret (as defined). The legislature, however, was "vexingly oblique" in prescribing the effect of CUTSA on common law...more
Businesses across the country are feeling the effects of a pair of laws recently enacted in Massachusetts. The "garden leave" clause in Massachusetts' new noncompete law dictates that during the period in which a departed...more
Let’s set the scene: My new company develops a smart toothbrush from the ground up. It brushes your teeth, provides you with real-time information about your dental health while you brush, and even provides targeted...more
On October 1, 2018, Massachusetts will become the 49th state to adopt a version of the Uniform Trade Secrets Act. The version of the UTSA that Massachusetts will adopt bears notable similarities to the Defend Trade Secrets...more
Just two days after TSW’s inaugural post, we brought you news of Texas becoming the 48th state to enact some form of the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (UTSA)....more
In a testament to the wide breadth of potential trade secret protection to any number of industries, a court in the Western District of Washington denied a 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss Seattle Sperm Bank’s (SSB) DTSA and...more
Enacted in May 2016, the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) created a new remedy that was not available under any state's Uniform Trade Secrets Act (UTSA) – the ex parte civil seizure. This remedy permitted plaintiffs to...more
This week, after close to a decade of “will they or won’t they” nail biters, the Massachusetts legislature finally passed a non-compete bill, just minutes before the end of the 2018 legislative session....more
In May 2016, the US Congress enacted the Defend Trade Secrets Act (“DTSA”), which created a federal private right of action for trade secret misappropriation “if the trade secret is related to a product or service use in, or...more