Intellectual Property Law

SEC Ready to Require More Pay Disclosures

Posted on June 06, 2009
By: KARA SCANNELL The Securities and Exchange Commission plans to propose that companies disclose in general terms how they compensate lower-ranking employees, expanding disclosures for the first time beyond the executive suite. The proposals wouldn't require companies to say how much they pay these star performers, but they would have to disclose in more-general terms how lower-ranking employees are paid, especially when it affects the company's overall risk management...

Woman Sprayed With Pesticide Can't Get List Of Chemicals Because They're A Trade Secret

Posted on June 04, 2009
By: Chris Walters A North Carolina woman out walking her dog last month was sprayed in the face with a gypsy moth pesticide, and subsequently developed "a severe rash and other flu-like symptoms, breathing complications, and nausea for several days." Unfortunately, her doctor can't treat her properly because the company that makes the spray won't tell him what's in it...

First economic espionage trial begins in US

Posted on June 03, 2009
By: GILLIAN FLACCUS Associated Press Writer SANTA ANA, Calif.--Chung, a Chinese-born engineer, is accused of working as a spy for China for more than 30 years while employed at Rockwell International and then Boeing Co. Chung has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy, economic espionage, lying to federal agents, obstruction of justice and acting as a foreign agent...

Drug Agency May Reveal More Data on Actions

Posted on June 02, 2009
By GARDINER HARRIS The Obama administration plans to announce on Tuesday that it is setting up a task force within the agency to recommend ways to reveal more information about F.D.A. decisions, possibly including the disclosure of now secret data about drugs and devices under study...

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Obama's Public-Private Cybersecurity Challenge

Posted on June 01, 2009
By: Arik Hesseldahl CYBERSPACE POLICY REPORT In a 38-page report released May 29 on the government's 60-day review of cyberspace policy, the Administration said the nation is at a "crossroads," where digital information permeates national life, but that it's also using infrastructure which is inherently insecure and vulnerable to attacks that can cause devastating disruptions...

The PS3 Slim and PSP Go! Are Real, Might Be Revealed at E3 - So says an insider

Posted on May 31, 2009
The gaming industry is filled with secrets, unannounced plans and ambitious but unrevealed projects. That's why there will always be rumors and speculations flying around the Internet and landing on related websites depending on how true they are or on what they focus on...

Land ownership creates obstacle

Posted on May 30, 2009
By: Metin Münir - Milliyet Behind the fuss of the law drafted for de-mining the Syrian border being discussed in Parliament is who will own the land after the mines are cleared. The common belief among the opposition is that the address is evident. Defense Minister Vecdi Gönül made the following statement in Parliament a while ago: "We opened a bid for the whole area...

IBM Sues Its Ex-M&A Chief for Taking a Job at Dell

Posted on May 29, 2009
BY: MAUREEN O'GARA IBM is standing on the non-compete Johnson signed in 2005 and accuses him of misappropriating its trade secrets. This time it's former M&A chief David Johnson who's bound for Dell. Last time it was chip guru Mark Papermaster after he was hired by Apple to be head of iPod and iPhone engineering...

Do Pirates Use The Internet To Stalk Their Targets?

Posted on May 27, 2009
Filetwt.com Services may be used only for lawful purposes. Transmission, distribution or storage of any material in violation of any applicable law or regulation, including export control laws, is prohibited. This includes, without limitation, material protected by patent, copyright, trademark, service mark, trade secret or other intellectual property rights...

SecureWorks buys VeriSign unit for $40M-$50M

Posted on May 27, 2009
By: AtlanTech The privately held managed security services company has agreed to acquire the assets of VeriSign Inc.'s managed security services business, according to a Securities & Exchange Commission filing. SecureWorks monitors corporate networks and helps protect against online attacks from crooks looking to steal financial and other information...

Meet the Merchant: Playing it smart

Posted on May 26, 2009
By: Simone Roch Hope Standard "A logo is also your identify, customers see a graphic and they immediately think of you...."One of the secrets to operating a successful business in Hope is joining forces to offer your customers a wide variety of services...

Contamination concerns rise out of gas wells

Posted on May 25, 2009
By: Adam Chodak When Lisa Bracken moved next to Divide Creek in western Colorado, she saw her 60 acres of undeveloped land as something of a wildlife refuge. But over the past few years, Bracken has watched the wildlife - especially the vegetation - die off...

How to spot a trade secret: mosquito net ruling explains

Posted on May 22, 2009
The judge listed 11 reasons why the duty of confidence was owed, including that Skovmand was a consultant employed to develop new products; he was subject to the company's direction; much of the work was carried out by people employed by the company; the material was the result of advice from other people as well as Skovmand; and the company had paid for the raw materials used in the work...

TRADE SECRETS IN A DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT

Posted on May 22, 2009
BY: VICTORIA A. CUNDIFF The law of trade secrets is long-established: to obtain the court's assistance in enforcing trade secret rights, the trade secret owner must consistently take measures that are reasonable under the circumstances to protect its trade secrets...

Congressmen want automakers to cough up diagnostic codes

Posted on May 21, 2009
By John Timmer As automobiles become more complex, repairing them is requiring increasingly sophisticated tools, such as interfaces into their computerized internal diagnostic systems. Congress is now considering a bill that would give everyone equal access to the required technology...

Vermont Acts to Make Drug Makers' Gifts Public

Posted on May 20, 2009
By NATASHA SINGER The law, scheduled to take effect on July 1, is believed to be the most stringent state effort to regulate the marketing of medical products to doctors. In Congress, Senators Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, and Herb Kohl, Democrat of Wisconsin, have sponsored a bill requiring disclosure of pharmaceutical industry payments to doctors...

Protecting your company's trade secrets

Posted on May 18, 2009
BY JOE CLEVELAND Last year, a former Intel design engineer was charged with allegedly stealing $1 billion worth of trade secrets relating to Intel's next generation microprocessor. The engineer was working at Intel when he was hired by Advanced Micro Devices, an Intel competitor...

Mayo Clinic, doctor battle over software rights

Posted on May 17, 2009
By Walter F. Roche Jr. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review The Mayo Clinic, the famed health care organization, and its data processing partner Cerner Corp. are asking a federal judge to slap a gag order on a key former employee to bar him from even speaking about a new health technology product...

MARKETING 'GURU' SHARES TRADE SECRETS

Posted on May 16, 2009
By: SHA:mh Mike Holland spoke about converting enquiries into sales and told delegates that a company's first point of contact for a potential customer is often what kills a sales lead. Mike explained: "For a start there's the telephone system. Taking too long to answer a call will see a large proportion of potential customers simply hanging up - and they won't ring back...

Feuding companies find answers in judge's silence

Posted on May 14, 2009
BY JANINE ANDERSON California-based Clorox sued SCJ last month over the hiring of Tim Bailey, then Clorox's vice president of product supply. To keep Bailey from starting work, Clorox requested a restraining order. SCJ has jumped on that possibility, and filed a motion Tuesday asking for dismissal of the suit...

Thieves who turned super cops

Posted on May 13, 2009
By: Latha Jishnu Ben-Atar, professor of history at Fordham University of New York, is among the more interesting thinkers I've met on intellectual property (IP) issues. Why did the history professor write Trade Secrets? Apart from the usual academic reasons, he says there was another compelling motive -- to remind Americans of their past so that they have a better understanding of why piracy is now happening in other parts of the world...

Minnesota Court: Release Source Code of Breath-Testing Machines

Posted on May 11, 2009
By David Kravets Drunken-driving convicts in Minnesota are intoxicated over a recent state high court ruling allowing defense experts to examine the source code of breath-testing machines. The state and CMI are involved in a separate legal flap about whether the maker of the Intoxilyzer 500EN should turn over the code to the state...

Vision files suit against five former employees

Posted on May 10, 2009
Las Vegas Sun The defendants are accused of releasing confidential information and trade secrets to attempt to convince Vision customers and companies it does business with to enter into new contracts with the defendants and terminate their contracts with Vision...

Trade secrets: Bears GM discusses Cutler trade, his conservative image

Posted on May 09, 2009
BY BRAD BIGGS Landing Jay Cutler finally has given Jerry Angelo, nearly eight years into his tenure as Bears general manager, someone he believes is capable of becoming a franchise quarterback. That makes everyone's job at Halas Hall a little easier, but that doesn't mean the work stops...

Computer bought online holds defense secrets

Posted on May 09, 2009
By: Darleen Hartley Security controlling Lockheed Martin's computer systems apparently is tighter than their recycling program. It is being reported that one of their computers containing sensitive information about a US missile defense system was sold on eBay to a university research project that was looking for just such oversights...

Trade secrets: Interim management

Posted on May 07, 2009
The downturn means huge challenges and tough decisions for managers and staff, from cost-cutting to redundancies. Bringing in expert interim managers could be the answer. Many senior managers with good track records have never had to manage a business in a recession...

EODT suing former workers :

Posted on May 06, 2009
By Bill Brewer Knoxnews.com Lenoir City defense contractor EOD Technology Inc., which provides security services for the U.S. military in Iraq, is suing five former employees for $80 million and accusing them of stealing company secrets to form a competing company...

Swedish National Charged With Hacking and Theft of Trade Secrets Related to Alleged Computer Intrusions at NASA and Cisco

Posted on May 06, 2009
Philip Gabriel Pettersson, aka "Stakkato," 21, a Swedish national, was indicted today on intrusion and trade secret theft charges, announced the Justice Department's Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello for the Northern District of California...

Lockheed Martin, L-3 Communications Face Off in Trade Secret Trial

Posted on May 04, 2009
By: R. Robin McDonald Fulton County Daily Report Trial is culmination of more than four years of litigation. Today in federal court in Atlanta two of the largest defense contractors in the world will go head to head in a trial over the alleged misappropriation of trade secrets associated with the design and construction of an anti-submarine bomber used by navies around the world...

Vt. House working on expanded drug disclosure bill

Posted on May 01, 2009
By DAVE GRAM Associated Press Vermont lawmakers want to make it much tougher for drug company sales representatives to court doctors with free lunches and other perks designed to get their products into patients' medicine cabinets. The work came two weeks after Attorney General William Sorrell's office issued its annual report on drug marketing efforts in the state...

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