Intellectual Property Law

Rare Criminal Prosecution Under Economic Espionage Act Proceeds - Case Will Examine Issue of Chinese Government's Sponsorship of Technology Theft

Posted on October 20, 2009
We first blogged about this Economic Espionage Act case here: http://wombletradesecrets.blogspot.com/2007_09_01_archive.html.You'll recall that the Sec. 1831 of the federal Economic Espionage Act of 1996 provides as follows: "Sec. 1831. Economic espionage(a) IN GENERAL- Whoever, intending or knowing that the offense will benefit any foreign government, foreign instrumentality, or foreign agent, knowingly--(1) steals, or without authorization appropriates, takes, carries away, or conceals, or by fraud, artifice, or deception obtains a trade secret;(2) without authorization copies, duplicates, sketches, draws, photographs, downloads, uploads, alters, destroys, photocopies, replicates, transmits, delivers, sends, mails, communicates, or conveys a trade secret;(3) receives, buys, or possesses a trade secret, knowing the same to have been stolen or appropriated, obtained, or converted without authorization;(4) attempts to commit any offense described in any of paragraphs (1) through (3); or(5) conspires with one or more other persons to commit any offense described in any of paragraphs (1) through (3), and one or more of such persons do any act to effect the object of the conspiracy, shall, except as provided in subsection (b), be fined not more than $500,000 or imprisoned not more than 15 years, or both...

Illinois Judge Grants Injunction Against Former Citadel Employees - One of Whom Claims Additiction to Pornography To Explain Empty Hard-Drive

Posted on October 19, 2009
We've been blogging about this trade secrets case for a while, see here: http://wombletradesecrets.blogspot.com/2009/07/former-citadel-employees-defend.html. You'll recall that Citadel, a huge Chicago hedge fund, has sued some former employees for breach of their noncompete covenants and theft of trade secrets of certain kinds of high-speed trading...

Georgia Trade Secrets Act and Preemption

Posted on October 17, 2009
The Georgia Trade Secrets Act contains a provision that states that the GTSA supersedes ?conflicting tort, restitutionary, an other laws of this state providing civil remedies for misappropriation of a trade secret.? GCGA § 10-1-767(a). That provision was front and center in a recent opinion of the Georgia Court of Appeals, Professional Energy Management, Inc...

Outbound E-Mail Being Vetted for Data Leaks

Posted on September 30, 2009
Law.com is reporting that new data has been reported in a study that claims 38% of large employers in the U.S. are monitoring outbound e-mails for data leaks.And it's not just inappropriate use of e-mail that has employers scrutinizing employees. Social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook are also compounding data leak fears, companies reported, with 8 percent saying they had fired an employee for misuse of social networks in the past 12 months...

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DeLaughter Bribery/Influence Evidence May Impact Eaton Aerospace Trade Secrets Misappropriation Case

Posted on September 23, 2009
We've reported about the crazy ups-and-downs of this Eaton Aerospace employee defection case before: http://wombletradesecrets.blogspot.com/2009/07/judge-from-eaton-aerospace-trade.html.Forbes is now reporting that U.S. District Judge Glen H. Davidson in north Mississippi ruled Monday the secret grand jury testimony and other materials can be handed over to U...

GM's Daewoo Sues to Stop Russian Automaker from Selling Compact Sedan Allegedly Created Using Stolen Trade Secrets

Posted on September 22, 2009
The Korea Times is reporting that Daewoo, the South Korean unit of General Motors, said Tuesday it has filed a court injunction to stop a Russian auto maker from selling a compact sedan, which was allegedly built using its stolen technology.The court action comes nearly two weeks after local prosecutors arrested two former GM Daewoo employees on charges of handing over core information on the company's popular "Lacetti" sedan before getting jobs at the local branch of Russian auto firm TagAZ...

Avoiding IP Disputes with R&D Employees

Posted on September 22, 2009
Since he won?t want to blow his own horn, let me bring this one to your attention.This blog?s co-author, Todd Sullivan, is quoted extensively in Technology Transfer Tactics on the subject of intellectual property disputes between research universities and inventors...

Supreme Court of Ohio Says Cincinnati Public School District Exam Questions Are Trade Secrets Exempt from Disclosure

Posted on September 17, 2009
The Supreme Court of Ohio ruled today that the questions used in semester examinations administered to all ninth-grade students in the Cincinnati Public School District are not ?public records? subject to disclosure under the state?s Public Records Act because they fall within a statutory exception for trade secrets...

Sarasota-Based Contact Lens Manufacturer Accuses IT Specialist of Trade Secret Theft

Posted on September 16, 2009
Sarasota's HeraldTribune.com is reporting that contact lens manufacturer Benz Research has filed a lawsuit against a former employee, claiming that he stole trade secrets with the intent of selling them to competitors.The Manatee County-based company's suit targets Neil W...

Nova Biomedical Prevails in Major Trade Secrets Trial

Posted on September 15, 2009
The AmLaw Daily is reporting that Nova Biomedical has prevailed in a high-profile trade secret misappropriation case filed by Medtronic. The report is as follows:A federal jury in Los Angeles has dealt Medtronic a defeat in its efforts to prevent former partner Nova Biomedical from selling a line of blood glucose meters that are able to communicate wirelessly with Medtronic insulin pumps...

Say Cheese - Photography Studios in Noncompete and Trade Secret Spat

Posted on September 10, 2009
Well - we were not going to cover this story, but - what the heck. The Las Vegas Sun is reporting that high-end photography companies with galleries at Las Vegas casino-resorts are headed for a legal showdown, with one accusing the other of misappropriating its trade secrets...

DuPont Terminates, Then Sues, Chinese Employee For Allegedly Stealing Trade Secrets

Posted on September 08, 2009
Delaware Online is reporting that the DuPont Co. has filed a lawsuit against -- and fired -- a Chinese-born employee who was allegedly about to leave Delaware and return to China with company trade secrets.The suit, filed in late August in the Delaware Court of Chancery, accuses Hong Meng of breach of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets -- specifically research into a paper-thin computer display technology called an "organic light emitting diode" or OLED...

Nebraska-Based Elections Software Company Sues Two Former Employees

Posted on September 04, 2009
The Chicago Tribune is reporting that Omaha-based Election Systems & Software is suing two former employees, alleging they've illegally used the company's software and disclosed trade secrets. The company operates election services in 39 states and overseas...

Federal Reserve Fighting FOIA Case With Trade Secret Jargon a Federal Judge Ain't Buying

Posted on September 03, 2009
While not technically a straight-down-the-line trade secrets discussion, we find the recent piece in The Atlantic by Daniel Indiviglio quite interesting. He is reporting about the Fed's stringent opposition to releasing information about which banks received emergency funding in the FOIA case known as Bloomberg LP v...

Raytheon's Trade Secret Theft Claims Tossed By Federal Judge in Texas

Posted on September 02, 2009
We first blogged about this case back in 2007: http://wombletradesecrets.blogspot.com/2007/03/raytheon-files-trade-secrets-suit.html. Raytheon had alleged that in March of 1996, a high-level Raytheon executive quit and started a company called Indigo, allegedly to provide consulting advice to companies like Raytheon...

Law Firm Sued in Trade Secrets Case

Posted on August 27, 2009
From the National Law Journal, an interesting story about a trade secrets case against the Foley & Lardner law firm by SPH America, a Virginia company heavily involved in patent litigation.The contention is that the law firm used information obtained in discovery in one case by incorporating it into another case...

Trade Secrets of the Securities Traders

Posted on August 24, 2009
Following up on last month?s post here concerning the case of the trader accused of stealing trade secrets from Goldman Sachs, the New York Times has an interesting and well-written piece about the case.The story discusses the claims that former Goldman employee, Sergey Aleynikov, stole code that allowed for ultrafast computerized stock trading...

Newspaper?s Publication of Trade Secrets Leads to Lawsuit

Posted on August 20, 2009
This is a new one on us. From the AP, via Google, a story that generic drug manufacturer, Mylan Inc. is suing the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette over stories based on internal documents containing company trade secrets that were leaked to the paper. The stories, Mylan contends, prompted a review by the Food and Drug Administration which ultimately concluded that Mylan did nothing wrong...

Biopharma Company's Competitive Advantage Lies in Trade Secrets, Not Patents

Posted on August 17, 2009
Cumberland Pharmaceuticals' IPO last week fell a little flat. But in a piece this morning in The Wall Street Journal, the company's product offerings and competitive advantages are touted to include trade secret advantages and marketing advantages not available to other competitors:"Cumberland's product portfolio makes the rich multiple all the more impressive...

Chinese Formally Accuse Rio Tinto Team of Stealing Trade Secrets: The Goose/Gander Story

Posted on August 12, 2009
We recently blogged about the Rio Tinto and Chinese "trade secrets" story here: http://wombletradesecrets.blogspot.com/2009/07/rio-tinto-executives-jailed-by-china.html. You'll note the original theory China was going on was that its "state secrets" had been stolen...

Why Is There a Debate Over Publishing Stolen Twitter Documents and Data?

Posted on August 10, 2009
It's been a relatively slow week in the trade secret world - so we thought we'd blog about the ethical/legal implications of a news organization publishing data or documents that their source stole. As you can see from the link to the New York Times story, a hacker stole a bunch of data and documents from "Twitter...

Printer Cartriage Reseller Accuses Epson of Illegal Spying and Trade Secret Misappropriation

Posted on August 05, 2009
Green Project Inc. alleges in a lawsuit filed July 27 in U.S. District Court in Oregon that Epson America Inc. and its parent, Japan-based Seiko Epson Corp., sent a company spy into the facility to gain access to trade secrets.The company also claims that Epson punished it and firms like it for reselling recycled Epson cartridges...

Judge from Eaton Aerospace Trade Secrets Case to Plead Guilty to Lying to FBI

Posted on July 31, 2009
We have reported about the Eaton Aerospace trade secrets matter before: http://wombletradesecrets.blogspot.com/2009/01/federal-indictments-in-eaton-aerospace.html. That report was about the criminal indictments of the former employees - all of which were ultimately thrown out by a federal judge...

Rio Tinto Executives Jailed By China - Accused of Theft of Trade Secrets

Posted on July 29, 2009
This report by Bloomberg.com is fascinating - executives on Rio Tinto's negotiating team have apparently been arrested and jailed by China during tough negotiations over China's desire to purchase much-needed iron ore from Rio Tinto:Rio Tinto Group is known for playing hardball when negotiating iron-ore prices, prompting Japanese steelmakers to present the company with a faceless doll as a tribute during one round of talks...

Former Citadel Employees Defend Claiming "Trade Secrets? What Trade Secrets?"

Posted on July 28, 2009
We first blogged about this case here: http://wombletradesecrets.blogspot.com/2009/07/citadel-investment-group-sues-three.htmlNow The Wall Street Journal is reporting that three former employees of Citadel Investment Group have filed a motion to dismiss the hedge-fund company's complaint against them, claiming their formation of a new trading firm didn't violate agreements they made with Citadel upon leaving the firm...

Doh!!! ClearOne Trade Secrets Defendant Loses At Trial, Drops His Attorney and Asks for Stay of Judgment - But Is Told "Sorry"

Posted on July 23, 2009
We covered the ClearOne Communications trial victory and $9.7 million verdict against some of its former employees here: http://wombletradesecrets.blogspot.com/2009/04/clearone-clears-97-million-in-trade.html. It appears that one of those defendants, Lonny Bowers, fired his attorney and decided to take matters into his own hands to file a Rule 60 motion seeking to set aside or stay the judgment against him...

Military Rifle Designer Wins $1.8 Million in Trade Secrets Spat With Former Employee

Posted on July 22, 2009
A federal jury awarded a West Bridgewater, Massachusetts based designer of products for small-arms weapons more than $1.8 million in damages in a lawsuit alleging theft of trade secrets and breach of fiduciary duty.The lawsuit by the Atlantic Research Marketing Systems, or A...

China on Spy Charges: B**ch Set Me Up!

Posted on July 20, 2009
From CNN.Money, a report on the statement from the government of China regarding the recent conviction of former Boeing engineer, Dongfan "Greg" Chung, on economic espionage charges."The allegation that a so-called Chinese person stole trade secrets in the United States and gave them to China is purely a fabrication made up out of ulterior motives," the foreign ministry said in a short statement...

$36 Million Trade Secret Verdict Loser, Luna Innovations, Files for Bankruptcy

Posted on July 20, 2009
Trade secrets trials have consequences. We covered this $36 million trade secret verdict here: http://wombletradesecrets.blogspot.com/2009/06/post-trial-motions-filed-in-363-million.html.Now the defendant, Luna Innovations, has filed for bankruptcy protection in federal court in Virginia...

FORMER BOEING ENGINEER CONVICTED OF ECONOMIC ESPIONAGE

Posted on July 16, 2009
From CNN, here's the full text of the Department of Justice press release:IN THEFT OF SPACE SHUTTLE SECRETS FOR CHINASANTA ANA, Calif. - A former Rockwell and Boeing engineer from Orange County, Calif., was remanded into custody this morning after a federal judge convicted him of charges of economic espionage and acting as an agent of the People's Republic of China, for whom he stole restricted technology and Boeing trade secrets, including information related to the Space Shuttle program and Delta IV rocket...

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