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Welcome to WilmerHale’s bulletin on recent trade secret case law and relevant news items. We’ve affectionately nicknamed it “Readily Ascertainable” because, unlike a trade secret, it should be easy to figure out....more
Trade secret and contract claims often travel together. For example, a failed collaboration that involved the exchange of confidential information may result in the disclosing party alleging that the recipient both...more
A counterclaim plaintiff’s claims in a complex trade secret action involving the development of cell-cultured human milk suffered a rather pedestrian fate given the important technological stakes. The counterclaim defendants...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit determined that it does not have appellate jurisdiction to review noncompulsory patent counterclaims in a case otherwise unrelated to the originally asserted patents. Teradata...more
In a late-March 2023 decision out of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, a court denied a plaintiff's request for attorneys' fees against a defendant who filed "objectively specious" counterclaims...more
The United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, applying Louisiana law, has held that losses reported by customers of an insurance company, for which the customers had no coverage due to the alleged...more
In litigation, the term “spoliation” generally refers to loss or destruction of evidence. Spoliation can involve physical evidence, paper documents, or electronic data. Spoliation can be intentional or unintentional....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Knowledge that a competitor or former employee is misappropriating trade secrets is difficult to come by. At the same time, however, once a company has notice that misappropriation may be occurring, the...more
In most states for certain claims, the statute of limitations is tempered by the "discovery rule," under which the limitations period does not start until the claimant knew or should have known of its claim against the...more
Courts have long lamented that “computing damages in a trade secret case is not cut and dry,” Am. Sales Corp. v. Adventure Travel, Inc., 862 F. Supp. 1476, 1479 (E.D. Va. 1994), meaning that “every [trade secret] case...more
The Third Circuit skirted the issue as to the means by which the employer, Scherer Design Group (“SDG”) found out about the theft. In the end, the fact that an employer may have violated the common law by accessing private...more
In drafting initial pleadings, some litigators assert every cause of action that could possibly fit the facts, so as to protect their clients from every angle. This approach requires extra care when one of the claims arises...more
America’s Test Kitchen (ATK) commenced suit against Christopher Kimball, who used to work for ATK. The lawsuit arises from Kimball’s development of a competing business. ATK also sued William Thorndike, Jr. According to ATK,...more
A recent decision by Massachusetts’ highest court provides another reason why employers should carefully review their employment practices liability insurance (EPLI) policies. Unless the policy expressly covers counterclaims,...more
Counter-defendants claimed that counterclaims 1(breach of contract), 4(breach of duty of loyalty), 5(tortious interference with contractual relations) and 6 misappropriation of trade secrets) are procedurally improper. The...more
In an appeal between two parties to a contract for marketing and selling defendant’s accounting practices in various states, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit addressed whether the defendant breached the...more