Intellectual Property Law

Regulated Industries Day at Womble Trade Secrets - PUCO Interested in Duke's "Side Deals" for Corporate Customers

Posted on January 25, 2008
The chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio wants to prohibit the kind of secret deals that Duke Energy signed in 2004 with several of its biggest corporate customers.Proponents of side deals say they are a good way to resolve disputes and often can spur economic development by reducing costs to businesses...

Allstate Gives Trade Secrets Documents to Florida Regulators

Posted on January 25, 2008
From the Chicago Tribune, a follow up to our story here, regarding documents sought by regulators that insurer Allstate was claiming were trade secrets.Florida regulators had barred Allstate from writing new policies as a result of the dispute.Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty barred Allstate from writing new policies in the state because he said the company hadn't complied with a subpoena for the documents...

FBI Rolls Out Economic Espionage Awareness Programs Across US

Posted on January 23, 2008
MLive.com is reporting on the FBI's current initiative in heightening trade secret theft awareness across the business sectors of the United States. Raising awareness among business leaders and educators is key to the success of the program, FBI officials say...

Seventh Circuit Vacates Trade Secrets Injunction on Lack of Specificity Grounds

Posted on January 19, 2008
Those of you who have actually read a temporary restraining order or a preliminary injunction order know that there's usually some portion that says "THOU SHALT NOT DO . . . . " and the list is can be pretty long. Oftentimes the list is pretty vague too...

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More on Allstate Trade Secrets Disputes

Posted on January 17, 2008
The Miami Herald has an interesting story, following up on ours here from November, regarding Allstate's efforts to keep a consultant's report from McKinsey away from state regulators on the grounds that it's a trade secret.The report, from the 1990's, reportedly advises Allstate on how to improve the company's profitability: pay less on claims and take a longer time to pay those claims...

Cyber-Espionage moves into B2B

Posted on January 16, 2008
From InfoWorld, a disturbing story about how cyber-espionage, including (of course) economic espionage, is moving away from governmental subjects and targets to businesses. The report is based on the research of the SANS Institute. According to its latest research, cyber-espionage efforts funded by "well-resourced organizations" -- including both government-backed and private efforts -- will expand significantly during 2008, in particular as overseas companies look to gain an upper hand in negotiating business deals with large companies based in the U...

Staffing Firm Aerotek Sues Former Employees for Trade Secret Theft

Posted on January 14, 2008
The Sacramento Business Journal is reporting that Aerotek - a staffing company owned by Baltimore Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti - has sued Johnson Group Staffing and one if its recent hires claiming they have misappropriated trade secrets in the process of competing and soliciting Aerotek's clients...

Ohio Defense Contractor Wins $23 Million Trade Secrets Verdict

Posted on January 11, 2008
Entrepreneur.com is reporting that an Ohio defense contractor whose former employees misappropriated trade secrets to set up their own company and work with a competitor received a jury verdict of nearly $23 million.Innovative Technologies Corp. was awarded $17 million in punitive damages and almost $6 million in compensatory damages by a Montgomery County, Ohio, Court of Common Pleas jury, which based its verdict on findings that David P...

Silicon Image and Analogix Fight It Out - Trade Secrets and Copyright Trial Set for April, 2008

Posted on January 09, 2008
Analogix Semiconductor, Inc., a world leader in high performance analog and mixed-signal semiconductors and IP solutions, announced today that the U.S. District Court recently denied Silicon Image, Inc.'s request for a preliminary injunction. Silicon Image had previously asked the Court to order Analogix to stop selling certain of its HDMI chips, claiming that Analogix had misappropriated Silicon Image's alleged trade secrets...

PETA Wants Animal Testing Records - Mississippi High Court Will Rule on Trade Secrets Objections

Posted on January 08, 2008
In January 2006, PETA filed suit alleging Mississippi State University violated the Mississippi Public Records Act when it was denied records of dental experiments and other tests on animals conducted since 1999 for Iams, a pet foot manufacturer.The Public Records Act requires that records be furnished to the public either free of charge or in return for reasonable fees...

Betrayal: A Silicon Valley Way of Life (subscription req'd)

Posted on January 07, 2008
From Salon.com, an interesting article which provides a different take on at least one case allegedly involving Chinese economic espionage. The case concerns the trade secrets claim of Applied Materials, a Santa Clara manufacturer of chip-making machinery, against a Shanghai start-up, Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment (AMEC)...

Kinetic Concepts Brings Trade Secrets Against Innovative Therapies

Posted on January 03, 2008
What happier way to start the New Year than with a new trade secrets case? From Forbes.Com, a brief item concerning a matter filed yesterday in state district court in Texas in which medical technology firm Kinetic Concepts Inc. sued competitor Innovative Therapies Inc...

Think Secret Blog Settles Apple Trade Secrets Case By Shutting Down

Posted on December 20, 2007
InformationWeek is reporting a confidential settlement has been reached between Apple Computers and the Mac-blog Think Secret that was reportedly a "positive solution for both sides." No sources of the information that sparked the lawsuit were revealed, the release said...

Facebook Brings Claim Under Computer Fraud & Abuse Act

Posted on December 19, 2007
From eFluxMedia, a story concerning Facebook?s amending its lawsuit in the Northern District of California accusing defendants of unlawfully accessing its servers seeking the web site?s users? personal details.Facebook alleged that in June servers operated by the defendants used automated scripts to make more than 200,000 requests for personal information stored on Facebook?s own servers...

TomTom Advises Tele Atlas Customers "Don't Fear Us"

Posted on December 18, 2007
The Washington Post is reporting that Dutch navigation device maker TomTom is attempting to reassure customers of Tele Atlas that their secrets will be safe once TomTom buys the Tele Atlas.Confidential information will be restricted to dedicated major account teams and TomTom and Tele Atlas will keep separate data-processing and email systems, TomTom CEO Goddijn said...

BNA Report: Mobility = Trade Secrets Risk

Posted on December 13, 2007
BNA's Daily Labor Report has published a piece concerning risks the mobile workforce places on corporate trade secrets. It makes a solid read and provides reliable analysis: Corporate policies aimed at safeguarding intellectual property andtrade secrets are becoming increasingly important as the mobility of labormarkets grows and as the tools available for compromising critical corporatedata expand, a panel of employment and technology law professionals said Dec...

Chinese Espionage and Night Vision

Posted on December 11, 2007
From ThreatsWatch.org, a story on Chinese espionage in sensitive U.S. defense industries:The author says that the threat posed by China goes beyond their reported involvement in the recent cyber attacks against Oak Ridge National Laboratory. According to the story, "the aggressive Chinese economic espionage effort mounted by Chinese intelligence agencies is illustrated by the announcement by U...

DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS! The Coin Merchants' Trade Secret Battle

Posted on December 04, 2007
The Southeast Texas Record is reporting that Austin-based U.S Money Reserve, Inc. is pursuing a permanent injunction against a band of former employees, who formed their own coin company by allegedly stealing the company's consumer accounts. U.S Money Reserve, doing business as United States Rare Coin & Bullion Reserve (USRCB), filed its suit, USRCB vs...

Congressman McCotter on Chinese Espionage Threat

Posted on November 30, 2007
From the Northville (Mich.) Record, a ?Congressional Update? from Michigan Republican Congressman, Thad McCotter, concerning the bi-partisan U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission which recently issued its annual report to Congress.The report, according to the congressman, is ?a wake-up call to America...

Allstate: Win the Case, Lose the Trade Secrets Battle

Posted on November 21, 2007
From the Lexington (KY) Herald-Leader, a story about a trial won by Allstate in which it looks like it will lose the issue of whether its claimed trade secrets will be made public.A judge in Fayette County, Kentucky has ruled that secret company documents shown during a civil trial challenging Allstate's claims practices should be made public...

Trade Secrets Battle in Detroit - MSC Software Corp. vs. Altair Engineering Inc. and Seven Former MSC Employees

Posted on November 20, 2007
Crain's Detroit Business is reporting that Troy, Michigan-based Altair Engineering Inc. wants a federal judge to appoint a programming expert to determine whether any computer codes link Altair's new prototype simulation software to a competitor's.The competitor, Santa Ana, Calif...

China: "Security Threat" and Denial

Posted on November 20, 2007
From the dog-bites-man files, first a story from Information Week concerning the economic espionage threat posed to the United States by China.The occasion for the story is the new Report to Congress by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission which calls Chinese economic espionage the top threat to U...

Federal Scientist and Engineer Creates New Twist in Rohm & Haas Trade Secret Battle With Former Employee

Posted on November 13, 2007
The Philadelphia Inquirer is reporting that a Department of Energy scientist and engineer has put in his two cents regarding this long-fought trade secrets battle between Rohm & Haas and one of their former employees.The chemist and engineer, Charles Russomanno, wrote in a two-page, previously undisclosed Energy Department memo obtained by The Inquirer that Lin's research made no use of company trade secrets and was worthy of an $850,000 federal research grant...

Union Wants Aramark's "Trade Secrets"

Posted on November 09, 2007
Local 217 union members and some parents want Aramark Corp. to fully disclose terms of its contract with the New Haven Public Schools.Service Employees International Union and UNITE HERE! requested the information, along with eight New Haven parents in a letter to Board of Education Chairman Brian Perkins, dated Oct...

Trade Secrets and Sneakers -- Nike's Case

Posted on November 09, 2007
Or maybe you call them tennis shoes, or trainers, or athletic shoes. In any event, from KGW.com in Portland, Oregon, a story about how the feds nabbed a print shop employee, one Reynold Chapin. Investigators say Chapin claimed to have a copy of Nike's unreleased Fall 2008 catalog and was willing to leak the information, including designs and prices, to the highest bidder...

Chariman of DOJ Task Force on Intellectual Property Releases Statement Made to Senate Judiciary Committee

Posted on November 08, 2007
It's clear that the Department of Justice has gotten serious about domestic and foreign intellectual property crimes. Just how serious, however, is proven by statistics released in the Chairman's statement:"Of course, at the core of the Department's IP enforcement program are criminal prosecutions, and we have worked hard to increase both the quality and the number of intellectual property prosecutions nationwide...

Innovative Solutions & Support Wins Trade Secrets Verdict

Posted on November 08, 2007
From MSNMoney.com, a story (really it's a press release, so take whatever grain of salt you deem appropriate) regarding a jury trial in a trade secrets case between competitors with, as always it seems, former employees in the mix.Here's the release, edited slightly:Innovative Solutions & Support Inc...

GUYS GONE WILD!!! Father-Son Plead Guilty to Conspiracy to Steal Trade Secrets

Posted on November 07, 2007
The Watergate bunglers are Exhibit A in break-in failures. John Norris and Matthew Norris are Exhibit B. And now the latter have had to cop a guilty plea like the former.John K. Norris admitted in his plea that after leaving The Imperial Group -- a company that bids on U...

Ex-DuPont Scientist Gets 18 Months for Theft of Trade Secrets

Posted on November 07, 2007
From the International Herald-Tribune, a follow-up on our story from last February concerning former DuPont scientist, Gary Min, a Chinese national who pled guilty to stealing trade secrets from his employer. According to the story, "while the fair market value of the confidential DuPont technology accessed by Min exceeds $400 million by some estimates, the government pegged DuPont's loss at about $180,500 in out-of-pocket expenses, and Min was ordered to pay only about $14,500 in restitution...

Departed Employee's Lack of Credibility Key to Robot Injunction

Posted on November 05, 2007
We don't usually do this in our blog but we'd like to take this opportunity to commend to you the site of XConomy which can be found here: http://www.xconomy.com/. This site was new to us prior to our watching and commenting on the robot trade secrets case currently being litigated in federal court in Boston and we've been VERY impressed with this site's coverage and comprehensive handling of the inner workings of a trade secrets suit...

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