Intellectual Property Law

Ex-SocGen Trader Found Guilty of Trade Secret Theft

Posted on November 22, 2010
BusinessWeek is reporting that former Societe Generale SA trader Samarth Agrawal was found guilty of stealing trade secrets related to the bank?s high-speed computer trading software.A federal court jury in New York today delivered the verdict at the end of a two-week trial...

More Testimony from Societe Generale Trade Secrets Trial

Posted on November 19, 2010
We're practicing law at the same time we're trying to find information for you regarding this fascinating criminal trial of Samarth Agrawal in Manhattan. Thanks to FINalternatives we've found some more reported testimony from the trial to give you a better feel for how the explosive admissions from Mr...

Societe Generale Trade Secret Thief Admits Guilt During Trial - Judge Characterizes Admissions as "Sympathy Defense"

Posted on November 18, 2010
We've been blogging about the ongoing criminal trial of Samarth Agrawal for a good while: http://wombletradesecrets.blogspot.com/2010/11/societe-generale-trade-secrets-trial.html.And we wondered - if the potential new employer of the Defendant is going to testify that he showed THEM a version of what he had copied from Societe Generale in terms of active high-frequency trading code, then what is the defense? Seemed to us that the only defense is that the code was not a trade secret - but wasn't that claim somewhat betrayed by the fact he was showing it to the potential new employer as something of value that he could bring to their place of business?Well - all has been revealed...

Guilty Plea By Former Engineer in Ford Motor Trade Secret Case

Posted on November 18, 2010
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that an engineer who went to work for a Chinese competitor pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to two counts of stealing trade secrets, prosecutors said.Xiang Dong Yu, aka Mike Yu, of Beijing, China, is expected to return to court in Detroit on Feb...

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SiRF Technology Trade Secrets Stolen Over 7 Year Period and Used By Start-Up Company, Say Feds

Posted on November 17, 2010
The Silicon Valley Mercury-News is reporting that U.S. Secret Service agents arrested a man on suspicion of conspiracy, possession of stolen trade secrets, and foreign transportation of stolen property, prosecutors announced Tuesday.Zhiqiang Zhang, who also goes by Michael Zhang, 41, was indicted by a federal grand jury in San Jose last week...

Papermaster Leaves Apple, Joins Cisco

Posted on November 15, 2010
You'll recall the name Papermaster because he triggered that high-profile fight in New York over whether Apple's use of Mr. Papermaster would threaten IBM's rights in certain IBM trade secrets. Well, Mr. Papermaster had a short tenure at Apple and now he's made a home at Cisco...

Takes One to Know One? 2FA Creates Trade Secrets Press Release During Oracle-SAP Trade Secrets Litigation

Posted on November 12, 2010
We've copied the 2FA press release and you can read it if you click on the title to this blog post. You're all aware of the Oracle-SAP spat being litigated currently. Well, a company called 2FA decided that they'd use an opportunity to reach out to Mr...

Opening Statements in Societe Generale Trade Secrets Trial: Prosecution Says Potential New Employer Will Testify

Posted on November 10, 2010
Bloomberg is reporting that opening statements have been made in the trade secrets theft trial of former Societe Generale employee Samarth Agrawal."You will see that Samarth Agrawal was a thief,? Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas G.A. Brown said in his opening statement today...

The Trade Secrets of Selling Used Children's Clothes - No Kidding

Posted on November 09, 2010
The Detroit Free Press (a paper I used to have to hump for delivery in the snow) has a piece today on a new lawsuit brought by a franchisor against a former francisee that alleges, among other things, the former franchisee misappropriated trade secrets regarding the sale of used children's clothing...

Bristol-Myers-Squibb Employee Pleads Guilty to Stealing Trade Secrets, Intending to Start Competitive Business in India

Posted on November 08, 2010
The Times of India is reporting that a terminated Bristol Myers Squibb employee has pleaded guilty to stealing trade secrets from the drug manufacturer so that he could set up his own business in India. Shalin Jhaveri, 30, entered a guilty plea to a one-count charge of theft of trade secrets...

Societe Generale Trade Secrets Trial Will Proceed in Open: Defense Counsel Warned That "Tongue Lashing" Awaits

Posted on November 05, 2010
Bloomberg is reporting that the trial of Samarth Agrawal, the former Societe Generale trader accused of stealing software code used in high frequency trading, will remain open to the public.Agrawal was charged by federal prosecutors in April with theft of trade secrets...

Michigan Company Sues New York City For Misappropriation of Trade Secrets Relating to Technology Utilized to Identify 9/11 Victims

Posted on November 04, 2010
In a recent presentation I gave to the annual conference of the American Intellectual Property Law Association, I noted that one of the risks of being a contractor with the government is that they might steal the contractor's trade secrets.Well, GenomeWeb News is reporting that in a complaint filed in March in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, Gene Codes, based in Ann Arbor, Mich...

California Appellate Court - Just Because Trade Secrets Were Misappropriated Doesn't Mean Unjust Enrichment Occurred

Posted on November 03, 2010
Yesterday, the Court of Appeals of California, Sixth District decided an appeal brought by San Jose Construction Company.Seems San Jose Construction sued its former employee, Richard Foust, and Foust's new employer, South Bay, for trade secret misappropriation...

Prosecutors Ask for Another Closed Courtroom In Trade Secrets Theft Prosecution - This Time in Societe Generale Case

Posted on November 01, 2010
Reuters is reporting that prosecutors have asked United States District Court Judge Jed Rakoff to seal trial exhibits from the public, close the court to the public when the evidence addresses the nature of the bank's trade secrets, and seal certain transcripts...

Goldman Sachs Wants a Sealed, Closed Courtroom For Trade Secrets Theft Criminal Trial Against Former Employee

Posted on October 27, 2010
The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg are reporting that federal prosecutors in Manhattan this week asked a federal district judge to seal the courtroom at the forthcoming trial of a former Goldman computer programmer accused of stealing the firm's computer code...

Treasury Produces 560 Pages of Highly Redacted E-Mails In Response to Bloomberg FOIA Request

Posted on October 26, 2010
This blog's readers know that the federal Freedom of Information Act and state open records laws create issues for governments in fulfilling their obligations to create transparency but also protect the properly protectable. When it comes to trade secrets or competitively sensitive information the government obtains, the relevant FOIA exemption from disclosure is at 5 U...

Social Media and Trade Secrets ? Time to Panic?

Posted on October 25, 2010
From London?s Daily Mail, the story, almost obligatory in some respects, about some ?top German firms? banning Facebook and Twitter in the workplace on grounds, in part, that employees ?could give away trade secrets? through social media.According to the story, a majority of the German firms in the DAX 30, including VW and Porsche, are banning access because of fears of industrial espionage...

DuPont Ex-Employee Sentenced to 14 Months, Faces Deportation After Release

Posted on October 25, 2010
BusinessWeek is reporting that former DuPont chemist Hong Meng has been sentenced to 14 months in prison in connection with his guilty plea to violations of the Economic Espionage Act. We've covered this case a number of times, including most recently here: http://wombletradesecrets...

Trade Secrets of the Stars

Posted on October 22, 2010
From the Beverly Hills Courier (which bills itself as the best read paper in Beverly Hills), comes a story about an inventor of a pudding for body builders who is suing Sylvester Stallone in a trade secrets case.William Brescia, the inventor, claims that Stallone and a co-defendant took his recipe for a pudding for body builders, a high-energy, low-carbohydrate meal, and marketed it as their own product...

Even the New York Times Recognizes the Trade Secrets Problem

Posted on October 20, 2010
There?s an old saw that if something is in the New York Times, it has arrived as a trend (and if it?s on the cover of Time Magazine, it?s over).Well trade secrets, and specifically the phenomenon of employees stealing trade secrets on behalf of foreign competitors, is now officially a trend...

The Trade Secrets of Corn Prices in Ethanol Production

Posted on October 20, 2010
Interesting reporting from The Sioux Falls Argus Leader regarding a new employee defection matter. Seems a Sioux Falls based ethanol producer has sued a former employee named Jodi Heath alleging misappropriation of trade secrets regarding corn purchase pricing strategies for Poet...

The Trade Secrets of the Predator Drone's Software Systems

Posted on October 19, 2010
ComputerWorld is reporting that a legal war is being fought over technology being used in the war in Afghanistan. In a well-written piece by Jaikumar Vijayan, he reports that the Suffolk County (Massachusetts) Superior Court will soon decide if software vendor Netezza should be allowed to continue selling a product used by the CIA in its Predator drone program that another vendor claims is based on misappropriated technology...

Trade Secret Theft and Economic Espionage Involving Mining Tires

Posted on October 18, 2010
Inventors Digest has just released the fascinating trade secret and corporate espionage tale of Jordan Fishman, the designer and distributor of massive "underground mining tires" - some of which stood as tall as a grown man, could shoulder 50 tons and sold for upward of $6,000 apiece...

Surveyor, and Accused Trade Secret Thief, Arraigned in Minnesota

Posted on October 13, 2010
We've already blogged about this case here: http://wombletradesecrets.blogspot.com/2010/09/surveying-trade-secrets-allegedly.html. Well - Park Rapids, Minnesota surveyor Tom Miller was arraigned yesterday and accused of downloading a database of proprietary trade information from his former employer Arro of Park Rapids, LLC, and taking it with him when he began work at Lindow Surveying & Mapping, LLC, where he works as a consultant...

"ICAP Stifling Healthy Competition" Says Compagnie Financiere Tradition SA

Posted on October 12, 2010
Bloomberg is reporting that a primary argument made by Swiss trading company Compagnie Financiere Tradition in a Singaporean court is that"there are no trade secrets in inter-dealer broking where prices change constantly and clients are shared by all...

Bank of America Sues Ex-Programmer for Trade Secret Theft

Posted on October 08, 2010
Reuters is reporting that Bank of America has accused a former computer programmer of stealing trade secrets from databases before he left the bank last month. The litigation against Rao Chalasani was filed in federal court in New York and is capitioned Bank of America v Rao V...

Char-Broil Bribes Customers to Reveal Their Trade Secrets!

Posted on October 07, 2010
Okay, we're kidding - there's no bribery for trade secrets going on here. But Char-Broil, apparently the leading U.S. marketer of infrared, gas, charcoal, portable and electric outdoor barbecue grills, is asking its customers to enter a "trade secrets" contest as to the secrets of killer cooking on a Char-Broil infrared grill...

Former Akamai Technologies Employee Thinks He's Dealing With Israelis But, Alas, He Was Dealing with the FBI

Posted on October 06, 2010
Oh what a tangled web we weave,When first we practice to deceive! Well, you're always assuming a risk when you reach out to someone you don't know and suggest that they might be interested in some confidential information that you have. According to a Boston Business Journal report, that's what Elliott Doxer got caught up in when he tried to offer the Israeli Consulate some information that he had access to in his employment with Akamai Technologies...

Italian Court Sentence Thief of Ferrari Secrets to 20 Months in Prison

Posted on October 05, 2010
Okay, admit it - you've seen a Ferrari before and you've thought to yourself "the only way I would ever get to drive one of those is by stealing it." Then, like the driver in our picture to the left, you might have some trouble driving it without a instruction manual...

Trade Secrets of Pharmacies Allegedly Misappropriated By CVS Caremark

Posted on October 04, 2010
CVS Caremark is reportedly an integrated provider of prescriptions and related health services. They claim on their website that "It won't be long before every one of Caremark's patients can walk into a CVS/pharmacy with the confidence that his/her Pharmacist has a complete overview of his/her individual history...

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