Intellectual Property Law

China's Rio Tinto Arrests. Everyone Just Move Along....

Posted on July 16, 2009
By Steve Dickinson China Law Blog The Rio Tinto employees are accused of conducting industrial espionage. Specifically, they are accused of bribery and theft of trade secrets. These acts are crimes under Chinese law. Therefore, if the accusations are factual, the four Rio Tinto employees are subject to criminal sanction in China, with typical prison sentences of up to four years...

The Real Reason Jefferies Loves UBS Employees

Posted on July 15, 2009
By Greg Michaels It turns out the little healthcare banking scuffle between UBS and Jefferies wasn't the first time these two titans have clashed over some form of theft. UBS confirmed yesterday that it charged three former members of its algorithmic trading group with stealing 25,000 lines of source code and taking the trade secrets to Jefferies...

Cloud computing may create new venues for high-tech criminals

Posted on July 13, 2009
By: Brandon Bailey High-tech crime is always evolving. Ask Matt Parrella, the federal government's top tech prosecutor in the Bay Area, who was chasing crooked telemarketers in Nevada in the 1990s when he first noticed the con artists peddling bogus investments were moving online...

Ultracade Cabinet Founder Faces Federal Fraud Charges

Posted on July 12, 2009
The former owner of Ultracade Technologies, a maker of MAME-style arcade cabinets, is looking at a 35-count federal indictment for fraud, theft of trade secrets, and trafficking counterfeit goods. The charges therefore mean not only was Global VR defrauded, but also licensees Namco, Nintendo and Taito, whose games ran on the cabinets...

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Two indicted over theft of arcade software

Posted on July 12, 2009
By: Henry K. Lee Chronicle Staff Writer David Russell Foley of Los Gatos and Michael Daddona were named in a 35-count indictment unsealed this week. The indictment, handed up July 1 by a grand jury in San Jose, includes charges of conspiracy, trafficking in counterfeit goods, theft of trade secrets, mail and wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and bank fraud...

The Hartford Accuses Arch of Stealing Trade Secrets

Posted on July 11, 2009
By Pat Speer Insurance Networking News The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. filed a lawsuit this week that includes a lengthy, detailed complaint against its competitor New York-based Arch Insurance Group Inc., and its Bermuda-based parent Arch Capital Group Ltd...

Former employee accused of stealing secrets from Goldman Sachs Group

Posted on July 11, 2009
By Mike Hughlett Tribune reporter Chicago-based Teza Technologies has suspended a new employee accused by federal prosecutors of stealing trade secrets from his former employer, Goldman Sachs Group. Sergey Aleynikov was arrested Friday in New Jersey by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for allegedly stealing software code he had designed for Goldman Sachs...

Creative Commons for Privacy

Posted on July 08, 2009
Protecting Personal Information via Contract vs. Intellectual Property Privacy Bar Camp DC Aaron Titus Intellectual property (IP) law is not an appropriate legal framework to protect personal information because nobody owns personal information. Personal information are facts, which are not copyrightable...

Your Money or Your Life - DK GreenRoots

Posted on July 06, 2009
By: TXsharon Ninety-two percent of the 278 known chemicals used to produce natural gas have adverse health effects including endocrine disruption, neurological disorders and cancer. Chemical information is limited because the industry claims formulas are trade secrets...

Ex-Partner Accused of AIP Trade Secret Theft

Posted on July 05, 2009
By JOE HARRIS A former managing partner of American Institutional Partners masterminded a scheme to steal the company's trade secrets from its owner, Pelican Equity claims in Federal Court. Pelican Equity, which owns AIP's rights, says Robert Brazell partnered with Stephen Norris to form Talos Partners in order to steal AIP's confidential busines information for their own gain...

Dialysis centers locked in battle

Posted on July 04, 2009
By BRIAN NEWSOME McCLATCHY-TRIBUNE A Colorado Springs doctors' group that accepted at least $250,000 from dialysis giant DaVita is now the target of a lawsuit claiming the group is aiding a new rival, according to a Colorado Springs newspaper. DaVita, which operates dialysis centers in Colorado Springs, claims Pikes Peak Nephrology in Colorado Springs violated a non-compete agreement, disclosed DaVita's trade secrets and solicited employees to go to Liberty, according to The Gazette newspaper in Colorado Springs...

Data Theft Attacks Still Driving Underground

Posted on July 02, 2009
"Virtually anyone with a computer and Internet access can wreak havoc. In the U.S., hacker attacks have been documented on county or state government sites". Trend charts the related losses among business tied to data theft malware in the multiple billions worldwide, with trade secrets and other information that helps rivals gain a market advantage over each other at the middle of the activity...

N Korea-Burma link suspected

Posted on July 01, 2009
By Jonathan Soble in Tokyo Kim Jong-il, North Korea's leader, has long been suspected of trading arms and arms-making technology with unsavoury allies, either for cash or for secrets such as the nuclear expertise he is believed to have obtained from Pakistan...

IBM loses injunction against Dell executive

Posted on June 30, 2009
By Jim Finkle BOSTON (Reuters) - A U.S. judge turned down a request from International Business Machines Corp to bar its former head of mergers and acquisitions from working at Dell Inc over allegations that he would disclose trade secrets. The ruling means the executive, David Johnson, will be able to continue to work as Dell's senior vice president of corporate strategy while IBM proceeds with a lawsuit that claims he violated a non-compete agreement...

Former Technical Director of Wheeling Paint Company Indicted for Alleged Theft of Trade Secrets Before Joining Competitor

Posted on June 30, 2009
A former northwest suburban man who was arrested in March was indicted this week on federal charges for stealing trade secrets from his former employer, Valspar Corp., in Wheeling, federal law enforcement officials announced today. The defendant, David Yen Lee, was charged with five counts of theft of trade secrets in violation of the federal Economic Espionage Act in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury...

UPDATE 3-IBM loses injunction against Dell executive

Posted on June 29, 2009
By: Jim Finkle BOSTON, June 26 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge turned down a request from International Business Machines Corp (IBM.N) to bar its former head of mergers and acquisitions from working at Dell Inc (DELL.O) over allegations that he would disclose trade secrets...

Hexagon Claims Trade Secret Victory Against Wenzel, Xspect

Posted on June 27, 2009
Hexagon Metrology today announces a litigation victory in its dispute over alleged misappropriation of trade secrets from its market-leading PC-DMIS inspection and measurement software, which is developed and published by Hexagon Metrology division Wilcox Associates, Inc...

Rev. Dollar Blamed for Stealing Trade Secret

Posted on June 26, 2009
By: BET.com Staff TV mega-preacher Creflo Dollar, one of several high-profile ministers being accused of fleecing their flocks to finance their lavish lifestyles, is being sued by a California businessman who says the pastor stole his business idea of charging followers a monthly fee for devotional text messages...

Questions still unanswered on Karoo gas exploration

Posted on June 23, 2009
By: Guy Rogers ENVIRONMENT & TOURISM EDITOR THE company that wants to explore for gas in the Cranemere area of the Karoo has refused to answer questions raised in terms of the required public participation process prescribed by South African mining law...

Magicians Take Illusions to Court

Posted on June 22, 2009
By MONA R. LITT MINEOLA, N.Y. (CN) - A young illusionist claims older magician and TV personality Criss Angel is cheating him of royalties for his magic tricks. Jacob Spinney claims Angel agreed to pay him 25 percent of net profits for rights to Spinney's Chair Self-Levitation, Spinney's Chair Self-Suspension and Spinney's Fork-Bending gimmicks...

DeLaughter: Same names, different case

Posted on June 21, 2009
By: JIMMIE E. GATES They are also figures in Scruggs judicial bribery probe Two former lawyers and a former state auditor - all of them imprisoned in a judicial bribery scandal - are expected to be subpoenaed for sworn statements in an unrelated bribery case involving the same judge...

Irving's Excentus Corp. says Safeway stole idea for gas rewards program | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Retail | Dallas Business News

Posted on June 20, 2009
By MARIA HALKIAS An Irving-based company is suing Tom Thumb's parent, Safeway Inc., saying it stole trade secrets to create its PowerPump gasoline rewards program. Excentus Corp. said Thursday it has filed a lawsuit against Safeway; its gift card subsidiary, Blackhawk; and its Texas chains, Tom Thumb and Randalls, in the U...

American Airlines Loses Trade Secrets Dispute with Delta and Former Employee

Posted on June 19, 2009
By Andrew Longstreth As Crain's New York Business reported last month, Delta announced in 2007 that John F. Kennedy International Airport would become one of its major hubs so it could "challenge American Airline's dominance," even as American unveiled its new $1...

Rodale Seeks to Protect 'Trade Secrets' in Florida Investigation

Posted on June 16, 2009
In an ongoing investigation into the sales and marketing practices of publisher Rodale, the Florida attorney general's office decided to make public the information it gathered. Rodale, publisher of Men's Health and other magazines, recently filed a petition with a Florida circuit court to keep the information private...

Luna challenges $36.3 million verdict

Posted on June 14, 2009
By: Sarah Bruyn Jones Luna Innovations Inc. has asked a California judge to throw out a $36.3 million jury verdict against it, arguing the award is based on a flawed interpretation of law. Even as the legal battle with Hansen Medical Inc. continues, Luna's chief operating officer said there is no bad blood between the two companies and he would be willing to work with Hansen to apply Luna's technology to Hansen's medical device...

FCC agrees to conceal Apple iPhone trade secrets indefinitely

Posted on June 13, 2009
"On May 28, 2009 or eleven days prior to Apple's unveiling of their next generation iPhones, Apple sought short and indefinite confidential treatment for documents filed with the Federal Communications Commission," MacNN reports. "In the first term, Apple requested that certain documents be withheld from the public for a short term of forty-five days...

One Big Fracking Problem for Oil and Gas Industry

Posted on June 12, 2009
By: Kirsten Korosec BNET Energy Blog Legislation introduced this week that targets hydraulic fracturing -- a technique used to access vast new fields for drilling - is pitting the oil and gas industry against environmentalists in a debate over public health, federal versus state regulation and the protection of industry trade secrets...

IP Suit Against Marvell Semiconductor Dismissed for Lack of Standing

Posted on June 10, 2009
By: Zusha Elinson Jasmine Networks Inc.'s epic trade secret case against Marvell Semiconductor Inc., featuring a general counsel's accidental voice mail confession, was suddenly dismissed (.pdf) Wednesday. Santa Clara Superior Court Judge Thomas Edwards ruled that Jasmine doesn't have standing to sue because the bankrupt company had sold off the trade secrets in question...

Lockheed Wins Trade-Secret Trial

Posted on June 09, 2009
By: ANDY PASZTOR Lockheed Martin Corp. won a $30 million jury verdict against L-3 Communications Corp. last week over the use of Lockheed proprietary data to refurbish P-3 maritime patrol aircraft for South Korea. Although the jury concluded that L-3 willfully and maliciously misused Lockheed's data, it didn't award punitive damages...

Price Chopper sues competitor, alleges trade secret theft

Posted on June 07, 2009
By: Steven Cook Gazette Reporter Alleged thefts of Price Chopper advertising fliers in the Southern Tier have prompted the Rotterdam-based supermarket chain to file a $20 million lawsuit against a competitor. Giant, the suit alleges, used those trade secrets to gain a competitive advantage over Price Chopper and may have been taking trade secrets for years...

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