Why Your Data is Key to Reducing Risk and Increasing Efficiency During Investigations and Litigation
The 'Secrets' of Trade Secrets in Government Contracting
Does Cellular 5G Equal 5x the Fraud and Misconduct Risk?
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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
A temporary restraining order (“TRO”) followed by a preliminary injunction is often essential for a company to maintain the trade secrets status of its information that is being misappropriated. Typically, once the...more
In the world of business, safeguarding your company’s valuable information is crucial to maintaining a competitive edge. One of the most important assets a company can have is its trade secrets. But what exactly are trade...more
30 million is a BIG number! That is the estimated number of employment contracts that could be impacted by the Federal Trade Commission’s new rule banning non-competes, if it goes into effect on September 4, 2024, as...more
As we all await rulings on the lawsuits challenging the FTC’s Noncompete Rule (one of which may be decided later today), we provide an update on the Knicks/Raptors trade secret case that we previously discussed on EBG’s...more
Like most states, North Carolina law protects employers from misappropriation of confidential and proprietary trade secrets. Last month, the North Carolina Business Court (a division of the Superior Court that handles complex...more
With the issuance of the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC or Commission) much-anticipated final rule on its "non-compete ban" (see Holland & Knight's previous alert, "New FTC Rule Bans Non-Compete Agreements in All Employment...more
Plaintiff zvelo is a Colorado-based organization that has developed a database of category-based website URLs that is incorporated into various network security and web filtering vendor offerings....more
Trade secrets have become a de facto intellectual property right for securing valuable artificial intelligence information. Despite regulatory trends toward greater transparency of AI models, federal policy acknowledges,...more
The New York Knicks just sued their former employee and his new employer, the Toronto Raptors, in a case that can teach employers a lot about trade secret misappropriation. The August 21 lawsuit accuses their Eastern...more
A recent trade secret matter pending in federal court in California shows the pitfalls of a company’s failing to do trade secret asset management before filing a trade secret lawsuit, and also highlights some important...more
Before closing the book on 2022, we look back at the most significant verdicts issued in trade secret trials this past year. In 2022, several juries awarded extraordinary verdicts to plaintiffs. These verdicts suggest a...more
In a recent trade secrets litigation in the United States District Court in the Northern District of California, a jury awarded the plaintiffs 40 million dollars, half of which was punitive damages. The Court also...more
Employers today are coming to terms with what has developed into full-time remote or hybrid work arrangements for many workers. However, you should recognize that the rise of these work arrangements may create additional...more
A trade secret is any information used in one’s business that derives independent economic value from being kept secret. Unlike patents, trade secrets are protected indefinitely for as long as they remain a secret. In the...more
One of the most common forms of business agreements that our clients enter into is the non-disclosure agreement (NDA). Whether to explore a potential partnership between two companies, to consider a proposed merger or...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
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
As the COVID-19 pandemic has displaced workers across the country, companies need effective ways to protect intellectual property and confidential trade secrets. This article outlines pragmatic steps to contain risk and...more
An institution’s trade secrets generally include confidential information with commercial value. Trade secret protection may be available by common law, under state laws, or under federal law. In addition, there may be both...more
When many people think of trade secrets, they envision something mysterious and legendary—such as the original Coca-Cola formula locked in an Atlanta vault, or Col. Sanders’ recipe for fried chicken. But many companies have...more
Pittsburgh Logistics (PL) sued its competitor and former employee, alleging that the employee breached his employment agreement by working for the competitor and that he would inevitably disclose PL's confidential and trade...more
On Wednesday, a federal jury in the Eastern District of Texas declined to award any damages to Huawei Technologies Co., the world’s largest telecommunications company, stemming from its allegations of trade secret theft,...more
A decision from the Northern District of Illinois is the latest to reiterate a stern warning we have long highlighted for employers: when insufficient steps are taken by an employer to protect its own proprietary information,...more
A California federal district court recently granted a temporary restraining order (“TRO”) against a former employee for misappropriating proprietary and confidential information in violation of the Defend Trade Secrets Act...more