Intellectual Property Law

RealDVD judge again boots public from courtroom

Posted on April 30, 2009
By: Greg Sandoval The film industry once again successfully convinced U.S District Marilyn Patel to boot the public from the courtroom during the RealDVD hearing on Wednesday. Attorneys from the DVD Copy Control Association, the group formed to protect DVDs from piracy, informed Patel that they wanted the courtroom closed during the testimony that would discuss anything the DVD-CCA considered a trade secret...

At MPAA request, judge kicks public out of RealDVD court

Posted on April 29, 2009
Posted by Richard Koman In an unusual development, Judge Marilyn Patel kicked out the public from the RealDVD injunction hearing, saying that details of DVD encryption were trade secrets that need to be protected. Real and Cnet objected strenuously, as News...

Sun Successfully Defends Itself Against $100M Patent Suit

Posted on April 28, 2009
By: Chris Preimesberger A jury denies the claim for than $100 million in damages from Sun for alleged patent infringement, breach of contract, interference with an existing contract, trade secret misappropriation and unfair competition that had been filed by Versata, formerly called Trilogy Software...

Clorox sues SCJ over new employee

Posted on April 26, 2009
By Janine Anderson The Clorox Co. wants a federal judge to keep SC Johnson from employing the man it has hired to be its new senior vice president of global product supply. Timothy Bailey resigned from Clorox in April, and is expected to start work with SCJ the first week of May...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

Manchester Democrat Examiner: A trade secret no one wants

Posted on April 25, 2009
By: Paul Briand  Manchester Democrat Examiner FairPoint Communications has presented a plan to address a long list of customer complaints. But pieces of that plan are being kept from the public because, according to the company, they are trade secrets...

Morrison & Foerster Wins $36 Million in Trade Secrets Trial

Posted on April 23, 2009
By: Zusha Elinson The Recorder A San Jose, Calif., jury hit Luna Innovations for $36 million in damages in a trade secret case Tuesday, handing Hansen Medical and its lawyers at Morrison & Foerster the victory. The jury took 1 1/2 days to come to a verdict...

ClearOne Awarded $9.7 Million in Trade Secret Misappropriation Case

Posted on April 22, 2009
By Patrick Barnard Senior Web Editor A federal court in Utah has awarded HD conferencing company ClearOne with approximately $9.7 million in damages as part of its trade secret misappropriation case against WideBand (News - Alert) Solutions Inc. and Biamp Systems Corporation...

Activision Sued: Misappropriation of Trade Secrets

Posted on April 20, 2009
Activision is embroiled in a legal hassle with Scratch DJ Game LLC, a joint venture between Genius Products and Numark Industries. Activision had tried to acquire Genius and its Scratch: The Ultimate DJ game. Genius didn't want to know. Activision then bought 7 Studios, which was contracted to Genius...

Chinese Espionage Continues with Latest Theft of Trade Secrets

Posted on April 19, 2009
By: Jim Kouri (The following is based on a redacted report obtained by the National Association of Chiefs of Police.) Yan Zhu, also known as "Westerly Zhu", age 31, a Chinese citizen in the U.S. on a work visa, was arrested Friday morning by FBI agents at his residence, 9 Victor Street, Apt 26, Lodi, New Jersey, on charges of theft of trade secrets, conspiracy, wire fraud, and theft of honest services fraud announced Weysan Dun, Special Agent In Charge...

Hospitality giant Starwood sues rival Hilton for 'stealing trade secrets' |

Posted on April 18, 2009
By: Andrew Clark The US-based hospitality company Starwood has accused its rival Hilton of a "massive" case of industrial espionage through the alleged theft of more than 100,000 electronic files containing sensitive information about its luxurious W hotel chain...

Berg-Nelson wins trade-secrets lawsuit

Posted on April 17, 2009
Torrance. Berg-Nelson Company Inc., a Long Beach maker of rubber and metal hoses, belting and other products, recently won a $242,000 jury verdict in Los Angeles County Superior Court in Torrance, the company's law firm, Cummins & White, said Tuesday...

Aptera motors revs up in Vista

Posted on April 16, 2009
By BRADLEY J. FIKES Aptera Motors is a year behind introducing its much-ballyhooed electric and hybrid vehicles. The first model to be made, the all-electric 2e, is scheduled to be available beginning this fall. A hybrid with a gas-powered generator that recharges the batteries will follow...

Environmental Watchdog Group Sues Air District

Posted on April 14, 2009
By Riya Bhattacharjee Environmental activists, community organizers and Berkeley citizens have for years pressured the air district to ask Pacific Steel--located at Second and Gilman streets--to control what they say are odors and toxic emissions harmful to human health...

Motley Rice must keep Sherwin-Williams info a secret

Posted on April 13, 2009
BY JOHN O'BRIEN Plaintiffs firm Motley Rice make public documents stolen from paint company Sherwin-Williams, an Ohio judge ruled Thursday. Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Judge John O'Donnell signed a temporary restraining order that forbids Motley Rice from releasing or destroying a 34-page presentation made to Sherwin-Williams' board of directors...

Public records law put to test

Posted on April 12, 2009
BY JAMES NASH THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH If a group of Cincinnati teachers prevails in a case now before the Ohio Supreme Court, enterprising students might be able to ace their tests simply by using the state's public-records law to get a copy of the test before it's given...

Los Angeles Lawyers, Firm Sanctioned

Posted on April 10, 2009
Evan Hill 04-06-2009 The Recorder A federal magistrate judge in Nevada sanctioned a Los Angeles firm, two of its lawyers and their client last Tuesday for what she called "scorched earth litigation tactics" in a trade secrets case. Magistrate Judge Valerie Cooke of Nevada District Court imposed roughly $20,000 in sanctions on Liner Grode Stein Yankelevitz Sunshine Regenstreif & Taylor...

Faiveley Transport v. Wabtec Corp. (2nd Cir 3/9/09)

Posted on April 10, 2009
Faiveley sued Wabtec for misappropriation of trade secrets and related claims. The trial court granted in part and denied in part Faiveley's motion for a preliminary injunction; the 2nd Circuit vacated and remanded. During the 1970s, Faiveley's predecessor developed a unique air brake system designed to stop trains quickly and smoothly...

From academia: "A Sociological Approach to Misappropriation"

Posted on April 10, 2009
University of Florida Levin College of Law Research Paper No. 2009-14 ELIZABETH A. ROWE, University of Florida - Fredric G. Levin College of Law Email: rowe@law.ufl.edu This paper is grounded on the premise that sociological analysis can be of great benefit to trade secret law...

Brescia v. Angelin (Cal App 3/17/09)

Posted on April 10, 2009
Brescia sued Angelin and others for misappropriation of trade secrets and related claims. The trial court entered judgment of dismissal after sustaining respondents' demurrer to Brescia's third amended cross-complaint; the appellate court reversed. After a dispute at a trade show where Brescia accused Angelin and his company of stealing his ideas, Angelin sued Brescia for trade libel...

Wilson v. Hasbro, Inc. (WD Ky 3/27/09)

Posted on April 10, 2009
Wilson (bankruptcy trustee for the estate of Indigo Moon Productions, LLC) sued Hasbro and Atari Interactive, Inc. for misappropriation of trade secrets and related claims. The court granted defendants' summary judgment motion. In 2000, Indigo and Hasbro Interactive, Inc...

Jury Verdict on "Flip This House" case

Posted on April 10, 2009
The jury rendered a verdict for the plaintiffs, awarding Davis $4,043,686.71. In early 2004, plaintiff Richard C. Davis and his real estate investment company Trademark Properties Inc. produced a treatment and demo of a reality show about purchasing, renovating and flipping homes...

Chinese man in US accused of trade secret theft

Posted on April 10, 2009
By: VICTOR EPSTEIN BUSINESSWEEK A Chinese national living in the United States has been accused of stealing a software program from his former U.S. employer and selling a modified version to the Chinese government after being fired. Yan Zhu, 31, a resident of Lodi, was arrested Thursday for stealing programming-source code needed to modify the encrypted program as well as internal sales materials from the company, the FBI said...

R. Mark Halligan Trade Secret Case Database appraoches 1000 cases!!

Posted on April 09, 2009
R. Mark Halligan Partner Nixon Peabody LLP 161 N. Clark Street, 48th Floor Chicago, Ill 60601 reports that his Trade Secrets Case Law Database has now been updated with some 100 new cases - now with 964 trade secret case summaries in the database. Congratulations!!

Garbage companies fight for trash

Posted on April 09, 2009
BY WILL BROWN DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER The fight for commercial consumers in North Florida has left Waste Pro of Florida and Emerald Waste in a stinky situation. Two of the biggest garbage collectors in North Florida are in court to settle what Emerald considers a violation of the state's Uniform Trade Secrets Act...

Nagarro Sued In U.S. Federal Court for Software Theft and Unfair Business Practices; Court Orders Sigma Six Technologies, Inc. Case to Proceed

Posted on April 08, 2009
Nagarro, Inc., a Silicon Valley outsourced software developer whose back office in Gurgaon, India employs over 400 employees, has been sued in federal court by two U.S.-based companies for theft of trade secrets, breach of confidentiality, unfair business practices and unlawful interference with another company's contract...

United States, Intellectual Property, California´s Uniform Trade Secrets Act Preempts State Common Law Claims

Posted on April 08, 2009
By: Patrick E. Premo and Julie Nokleberg The California Court of Appeal for the Sixth Appellate District recently issued an important decision confirming the preemptive effect of California's Uniform Trade Secrets Act ("CUTSA") on common law claims...

Lean, mean and hungry: trade secrets of a tycoon

Posted on April 06, 2009
By: Marcus Padley I ONCE went out with the richest man in England. Not in the biblical sense of course, and after a few bottles of something expensive he expounded his somewhat brutal assessment of life and business. I took notes. Here is the potted version...

Hank Asher sued by former company

Posted on April 05, 2009
By: Bill Frogameni South Florida Business Journal Reed Elsevier, the Massachusetts-based parent of LexisNexis and Seisint, on Thursday filed a complaint in Palm Beach County Circuit Court, alleging that Asher is violating his non-compete agreement by starting a new company, TLFO, in Boca Raton...

Proposed new local rules for handling patent cases in the Northern District of Illinois

Posted on April 04, 2009
By: Arthur Gollwitzer III On March 23, 2009, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois ("The Court") issued proposed local rules for handling patent cases, continuing a trend that began in the Northern District of California in 2001...

Household Products Start to Come Clean on Ingredients

Posted on April 03, 2009
By ANJALI ATHAVALEY A few manufacturers of household cleaning products have begun disclosing the chemicals in some of their products. S.C. Johnson & Son Inc. last month rolled out Web site WhatsInsideSCJohnson.com to describe most of the ingredients for its Windex, Glade, and Shout brands...

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.