The FBI on Economic Espionage
Federal Economic Espionage Act Overview
Corporate Law Report: Economic Espionage Act, Top FCPA Enforcement Actions, Trademark Audits, and More
Last week, the Seventh Circuit heard arguments in Motorola Solutions, Inc. v. Hytera Communications Corp. concerning when, if at all, civil claims under the Defend Trade Secrets Act (“DTSA”) may extend to extraterritorial...more
On December 5, the Seventh Circuit in Motorola Solutions, Inc. v. Hytera Communications Corp. will hear high-stakes arguments concerning the application of the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act (“DTSA”) to trade secrets taken...more
Employers often go to great lengths to protect company documents and communications concerning and discussing confidential trade secret information. But what happens when employees leave, bring a whistleblower claim, and the...more
A widely used method of software protection is through trade secret law under the Economic Espionage Act (EEA) (18 U.S.C. §§ 1831-1839), which was enacted in 1996 and significantly amended on May 11, 2016, by the Defend Trade...more
The Economic Espionage Act (EEA), codified in 18 U.S.C. § 1831-1839, makes the theft of or trafficking in trade secrets for foreign governments, instrumentalities, or agents a criminal act. Prior to passing the EEA, the Trade...more
Companies often consider trade secrets to be their crown jewels. But in the digital age, where copying and sending files is as easy as one click, protecting trade secrets has become even more challenging. Losing control over...more
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
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
Trade secrets can be stolen at any point, and such theft can be prosecuted by the Department of Justice. This is evident in recently unsealed charges brought against a software engineer who stole source code from his United...more
Caramel Crisp LLC, the owner of Garrett Popcorn Shops (“Garrett”), the renowned Chicago-based purveyor of deliciously flavored popcorn, recently filed suit in federal court in Chicago against its former director of research...more
The Ninth Circuit recently held in United States v. Liew that it was not plain error for the district court not to instruct the jury that disclosure “‘to even a single recipient who is not legally bound to maintain [a trade...more
Businesses at every level – from Fortune 500 companies to solo-inventor enterprises – rely on trade secret protections to safeguard their intellectual property trade secrets. American companies and innovators now have...more
For the first time in U.S. history, a new law was recently added providing federal protection for businesses’ trade secrets. The Defend Trade Secrets Act, 18 U.S. Code Section 1831 et. al. (DTSA) became law as an amendment to...more
For many companies, protecting intellectual property is a significant concern made more difficult in recent years by the persistent efforts of foreign agents to steal valuable trade secrets. Analysis of public sources...more
In this eight-week alert series, we are providing a broad look at current and emerging issues facing the energy sector. Lawyers from across the firm are discussing issues ranging from cybersecurity, antitrust and intellectual...more
Earlier this year, Congress passed the Defend Trade Secrets Act ("DTSA"), a comprehensive amendment of existing legislation that previously addressed economic espionage and now provides for a private federal civil cause of...more
It has been nearly five months since President Obama signed the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act (“DTSA”) on May 11, 2016, extending federal protection to trade secrets. In the past few months, employers around the country...more
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
In June, agriculture giant Monsanto was the first to use the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) by filing a federal suit in the Eastern District of Missouri naming one former employee and a number of John and Jane Does as...more
On July 5, 2016, in United States v. Nosal, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals clarified the definition of “trade secret,” finding that data derived from a compilation of publicly available information can constitute a...more
On May 11, 2016, President Barack Obama signed the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (DTSA), which provides a federal civil cause of action to manufacturers for the misappropriation and theft of trade secrets under the...more
Is password sharing a crime? It can be under the right circumstances, according to last week’s decision in United States v. Nosal. In Nosal, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld the conviction of a former...more
The overwhelming bipartisan passage by both the House and Senate of the new Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (“DTSA”) which was signed into law (18 U.S.C. §§ 1831-1839) by the president on May 11, 2016, marks not only an...more
On May 11, 2016, President Obama signed into law the Defend Trade Secrets Act (“DTSA”), marking one of largest changes to intellectual property law since the America Invents Act of 2011. This legislation will allow companies...more
Companies should take three steps now to ensure use of the Defend Trade Secrets Act. In May, President Barack Obama signed into law the Defend Trade Secrets Act that creates a federal civil cause of action for the...more