4 Key Takeaways | Trade Secret Update 2024 Legal Developments and Trends
On January 21, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a decision in Trinseo Europe GmbH v. Kellogg Brown & Root, L.L.C., et al that has massive implications for those prosecuting or defending trade...more
In a case that should stand as a strong reminder to apportion your damages whenever possible, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a significant post‑trial ruling in Trinseo Europe GmbH v. Harper, et al., upholding the...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, which hears federal appeals from Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana, recently issued a decision clarifying the level of specificity required to claim trade secret protection...more
The plaintiff, BDO USA, P.C. is an accounting and professional services advisory firm. The defendants are Ankura Consulting Group, LLC, Ankura’s CEO Kevin Lavin, and Phuoc Vin Phan....more
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
Following a jury verdict finding trade secret misappropriation, the District Court for the District of Massachusetts granted-in-part a plaintiff’s motion for a permanent injunction to prohibit defendants from using...more
Following a recent trend to reduce large damages awards in trade secret misappropriation cases, a federal judge in Massachusetts cut Insulet Corp.’s damages award from $452 million to $59.4 million to avoid impermissible...more
Ed. Note: This is the fourth in a series of articles taken from Gavin Parsons' CLE presentation for the North Carolina Bar Association's Antitrust and Complex Business Dispute CLE Program presented on Thursday, January 30,...more
Singapore-based XP Power has been ordered to pay $17 million in attorneys’ fees to opponent Comet Technologies, USA, following Comet’s victory at trial. The Northern District of California issued the order in January 2025,...more
Examining the issue of trade secret misappropriation when parties have contractually limited their liability from breach, the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reversed the district court’s dismissal of the case,...more
On April 4, 2025, the Eleventh Circuit reversed the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama’s ruling dismissing Alabama Aircraft Industries’ (“AAI”) trade secret misappropriation claim against Boeing, thereby...more
In a trade secret misappropriation action, a complainant is required to prove the amount of its damages with reasonable certainty and that this amount has been caused by the misappropriation. Therefore, the trade secret...more
Kilpatrick partners Joel Bush and Michele Floyd recently presented at the 20th annual KTIPS (Kilpatrick Townsend Intellectual Property Seminar) on “Trade Secret Update: 2024 Legal Developments and Trends.” This session...more
On July 30, 2024, the Court of Appeals of Virginia overturned a two billion dollar (yes, billion with a ‘b’) jury verdict in the Appian v. Pegasystems trade secret lawsuit. Although the Court of Appeals upheld the verdict of...more
In the ever-evolving landscape of intellectual property law, trade secrets have emerged as a crucial area of focus, particularly in light of recent uncertainties as to the enforceability of non-competes. Since August 2023,...more
The US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit largely affirmed a multimillion-dollar award against a temp agency for misappropriation of trade secrets and unjust enrichment due to its employee’s act of obtaining proprietary...more
The Court of Appeals of Virginia vacated a $2 billion award in a trade secret misappropriation case based on a series of evidential errors and improper jury instructions. Pegasystems Inc. v. Appian Corporation, Case No....more
The Virginia Court of Appeals reversed a $2 billion jury award for trade secret misappropriation under the Virginia Uniform Trade Secrets Act (VUTSA). The appellate court found error in the jury instruction for unjust...more
A Fairfax County, Virginia, jury in May 2022 found that Pegasystems Inc. (Pegasystems) misappropriated trade secrets from its competitor, Appian Corp. (Appian), and awarded Appian more than $2 billion in damages – the largest...more
This is the second of two updates on the impact of Motorola Solutions, Inc. v. Hytera Communications Corp. Ltd., No. 22-2370, ___ F.4th ___ (7th Cir. 2024) on trade secret cases. The first update focused on the...more
Arkansas has adopted the Model Uniform Trade Secrets Act with some modifications. We refer to this as the Arkansas Uniform Trade Secrets Act (“AUTSA”) and it can be found at Ark. Code Ann. § 4-75-601, et seq....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
The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed a district court’s dismissal of an unjust enrichment claim, finding that unjust enrichment claims do not necessarily rise or fall with trade secret misappropriation...more
The U.S. Supreme Court recently denied a trade secret owner's petition for certiorari in Trizetto Group, Inc. v. Syntel Sterling Best Shores Mauritius Limited. This leaves unresolved a question of when a wrongdoer's avoided...more