Intellectual Property Law

Upcoming books on trade secret law and practice

Posted on February 13, 2008
Intellectual Property Culture: Strategies to Foster Successful Patent and Trade Secret Practices in Everyday Business by Eric M Dobrusin and Ronald A Krasnow (Paperback - May 15, 2008) Global Secrets: Global Trade Secret Protection (Globalization & Law) by C...

CRACKDOWN ON EXITING EMPLOYEES STEALING TRADE SECRETS

Posted on February 13, 2008
Fulton County Daily Report EXTREME COMPETITION and fluid work force bring more employer actions against those who walk out with client lists and patented formulas TRESA BALDAS DEPARTING EMPLOYEES who steal company secrets on their way out are a growing problem for corporate America, prompting employers to step up legal actions against computer data thieves...

International Rectifier v. IXYS Corp.

Posted on February 13, 2008
Compliments of our friends at JurisNotes.com (Fed Cir 2/11/08) IR sued IXYS for patent infringement, with IR prevailing at trial; the Federal Circuit reversed the judgment of infringement and dismissed the cross-appeal as moot. IR holds the '699, '725, and '767 patents, all of which disclose metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors...

Verdict Alert : Electromedical Products International Inc. v. Stephen Satra

Posted on February 12, 2008
This case settled with the parties agreeing to an injunction barring Satra from disclosing EPI's trade secrets or selling any product based on them. EPI alleged commercial damages and interference with its business relationship with Neuro-Fitness Health Directions...

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Nigeria: What Every Organisation Should Know About AUPs

Posted on February 12, 2008
This Day (Lagos) As Nigerian lawyers wake up to the vast potentials of e-commerce, JOHN OKONKWO harps on the need for government and corporate organisations to regulate the practice An Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) is a critical legal instrument in managing e-commerce services...

Senate passes bill to open more government records

Posted on February 12, 2008
By Chet Brokaw, The Associated Press Three Republicans joined with the Democratic minority to endorse the measure 18-15, giving it the minimum number of votes needed to pass the chamber. Republican Gov. Mike Rounds is opposed to the bill. SB189 seeks to have South Dakota join the other 49 states with laws that presume state and local government documents are open to the public, said the measure's main sponsor, Sen...

Former Boeing engineer accused of stealing trade secrets from NASA

Posted on February 12, 2008
Robert Block | Sentinel Space Editor Federal officials Monday arrested a former Boeing engineer on charges of stealing trade secrets from the space-shuttle, Delta IV-rocket and other programs and sending them to agents of the Chinese government. In an indictment filed in California, prosecutors accused Dongfan "Greg" Chung, 72, of acting as an agent of the People's Republic of China in a case spanning 30 years...

Comprehension of underlying source code and algorithm unnecessary to make out prima facie case of trade secret misappropriation

Posted on February 09, 2008
Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner A software licensor that should have known that the third-party software it included in its product improperly contained plaintiff's trade secrets may be liable for trade secret misappropriation, even if the licensor could not understand or decipher the object code embodying the trade secret...

Owners of Fat Boy's barbecue sauce hope for supermarket sales

Posted on February 09, 2008
MARTY RONEY Montgomery Advertiser PRATTVILLE, Ala.— A popular Prattville restaurant is hoping to take its barbecue sauce to the next level - the supermarket shelf. Danny and Gretchen Loftin opened Fat Boy's Bar-B-Que Ranch on the banks of Autauga Creek 10 years ago, and the business has grown like kudzu since...

US border agents can search your laptop or phone

Posted on February 09, 2008
Guardan You might have thought that US border controls were simply focused on keeping out the likes of Lily Allen and Amy Winehouse, who might well reduce the entire country to rubble (OK, they recanted). But some companies now have a different issue...

Supreme Court of Ohio trade secret decision

Posted on February 09, 2008
AL MINOR & ASSOC., INC., Appellee, v. MARTIN, Appellant. Nos. 2006-2340, 2007-0121. Submitted Nov. 6, 2007. Decided Feb. 6, 2008. Background: Employer brought action against former employee to obtain monetary and injunctive relief for violating Uniform Trade Secrets Act (UTSA) by contacting employer's clients from memory...

Nixon Peabody taps two new Boston partners

Posted on February 07, 2008
Law firm Nixon Peabody LLP has elected nine attorneys to its partnership, the firm said on Tuesday. Two of the new partners are located in the firm's Boston office. Those partners are Gregg A. Rubenstein, who focuses on franchise and distribution litigation, complex commercial litigation, non-compete disputes and trade secret matters...

Parliament moves to make commercial secrets available to investigators

Posted on February 07, 2008
ERCAN YAVUZ ANKARA Amid controversy over a bill on state secrets, viewed by many as a major obstacle in Turkey's battle against gangs, the administration is preparing to submit another bill on trade secrets, banking secrets and customers' private information.

VP Gables, LLC Takes Legal Action Against the Cobalt Group, Inc.

Posted on February 07, 2008
PR Newswire CORAL GABLES, Fla., Feb 06, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- VP Gables, LLC (formerly known as VinPlus, LLC), a previous provider of data management solutions, today announced that it has filed a complaint against The Cobalt Group, Inc., a provider of automotive marketing services headquartered in Seattle, Washington...

Ohio high court rules that trade secrets need not be in writing

Posted on February 07, 2008
Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - The Ohio Supreme Court ruled today that memorizing a company's trade secrets is just as wrong as writing them down or copying them in some other format. The court unanimously ordered a former employee of Al Minor & Associates to pay damages for memorizing a client list...

Trade Secrets and Employee Loyalty

Posted on February 04, 2008
Talhiya Sheikh*, Intern, SMEs Division, WIPO Introduction In today?s competitive business environment, employees can ?make or break? an enterprise when it comes to intellectual property (IP) protection. While there are several legal and technical mechanisms that can be put in place for protecting IP assets of enterprises, employee loyalty remains one of the biggest challenges faced by enterprises in protecting their IP...

TRADE SECRETS AS PROPERTY: THEORY AND CONSEQUENCES

Posted on February 04, 2008
15 J. Intell. Prop. L. 39 (Fall 2007) Charles Tait Graves Introduction There is perpetual tension in trade secret law over the breadth of the information a creative employee can freely take from job to job. The court that determines the metes and bounds of such information in each case must choose, consciously or not, between two oscillating poles...

American Tire Corporation Denies Involvement in Alpha Mining Systems' Trade Secret Case

Posted on February 04, 2008
American Tire Corporation (ATC) has denied any involvement or relationship with Alpha Mining Systems' trade secret case as reported in the Herald-Tribune newspaper on January 31, 2008. Chino, Calif. (PRWEB) - American Tire Corporation (ATC) has denied any involvement or relationship with Alpha Mining Systems' trade secret case as reported in the article "Tire maker wins trade secret case" published in the Herald-Tribune, a Sarasota, Florida newspaper, on January 31, 2008...

Technology Smugglers Face Imprisonment

Posted on February 04, 2008
Telecoms Korea, South Korea The court said, "The offenders gained, leaked and used the trade secret about WiBro owned by Posdata even though they knew the secret would be used by others. Check out the IntelliBriefs for some history on this case...

Episode 1: The Coca-Cola Caper ~ This episode covers trade secrets and how they are commonly lost.

Posted on February 02, 2008
SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Randy Broberg, a partner in the Del Mar Heights office of Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP and chair of the firm's Technology and Intellectual Property Practice Group, is launching "The Licensing Lawyer," an educational podcast that addresses practical solutions to intellectual property problems...

Lovell's LLP, Mark Halligan, one of the leading trade secret attorneys in the world, talks about competitive intelligence and its relevance to law firms and the attorney's ethical role.

Posted on January 31, 2008
SearchitRight.com also offers an ethics course regarding a hot topic in the legal arena; competitive intelligence. "Ethical Considerations for Attorneys Conducting Competitive Intelligence" is for attorneys who need to get a clear understanding of ethical boundaries when it comes to law firms conducting or advising of competitive intelligence activities for themselves or their clients...

There are a few reasons why C/C++ isn't being used:

Posted on January 31, 2008
Despite the comment threads already going on, there are a few reasons why C/C++ isn't being used: ... 3) Most interesting to me is that by distributing code in a bytecode form, you get platform independence without having to distribute source. Device manufacturers can write a driver, distribute in bytecode, and not have to compile for every architecture, kernel version, etc...

Poet reaches deal with past employee

Posted on January 31, 2008
Josh Verges Sioux Falls-based Poet has reached a settlement with a former employee who it says violated noncompete and trade secret agreements. Anthony Simpson resigned as general manager of Poet's Caro, Mich., plant in July after accepting a job as vice president of operations for Ethanex Energy in Basehor, Kan...

Tire maker wins trade secret case

Posted on January 31, 2008
TOM BAYLES SARASOTA -- Alpha Mining Systems, a global manufacturer of industrial mining tires, has won a $19.7 million judgment against a former employee for handing out the company's trade secrets in 2005. Sam Vance, Alpha's sales and marketing manager at the time, was found guilty by 12th Judicial Circuit Court Judge Robert W...

Special master resigns from Judge Bobby DeLaughter controversy

Posted on January 30, 2008
Clarion Ledger A lawyer appointed to evaluate evidence in a trade-secrets lawsuit has resigned, and the reasons he gave raise more questions about the behind-the-scenes role of former longtime District Attorney Ed Peters in a case heard by his protege, Hinds County Circuit Judge Bobby DeLaughter...

A Tri-State company is fighting to keep trade secrets out of the hands of the courts and their competitors.

Posted on January 30, 2008
Reporter: Stuart Peck New Media Producer: Nick Storm This after a Kentucky man, charged with drunk driving, questions the accuracy of one of their products, a breathalyzer test. Owensboro police officer Brad Martin has made his share of DUI arrests in his career...

Some states are friendly to noncompetes; others aren't. Here's a rough guide.

Posted on January 30, 2008
Scott Westcott Unlikely to enforce: California bans nearly all employee noncompetes; a company can be sued for forcing employees to sign one. Georgia's and Wisconsin's laws are nearly as strict--if a single item in an agreement is overbroad, the whole thing gets tossed...

Two titans of local Spanish radio duke out trade secret controversey in court

Posted on January 30, 2008
Jonathan Kaminsky It's an ugly clash of two local media powers desperate for competitive advantage. The accusations abound: A violated non-compete agreement. Stolen trade secrets. Lies spread about the rival going out of business.

Blog #201

Posted on January 30, 2008
Our blog yesterday was #200. Please let me know whether the news I am providing you is of use or interest. Also, let me know any other trade secret news or information you might like to see on the blog. Thanks for tuning in. Jon Cavicchi jcavicchi@piercelaw...

Trade Secret Jury verdict : Verdict-PlaintiffPDG P.A. and Dental Specialists of Minnesota P.A. v. PDHC Ltd. and America Dental Partners Inc

Posted on January 27, 2008
Hennepin County District Court, 4th Verdict-Plaintiff: the jury found that PDHC breached the Jan. 1, 1999, amended and restated service agreement, and that PDG did not ratify the breach, nor was the breach excused by a mutual mistake of an important fact as to which PDHC did not assume the risk...

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