Recent Posts
Ex Parte Seizures Five Years After the Enactment of the Defend Trade Secrets Act
This was first published in IPWatchdog on March 26, 2021. “Parties seeking the extraordinary remedy of an ex parte seizure order should emphasize whether, for example, the defendant has a high level of computer proficiency and that such a defendant may find ways to hide, quickly disseminate, or otherwise destroy key evidence if such…
Read MoreNinth Circuit Gives Guidance on Specification of Trade Secrets Under the Defend Trade Secrets Act
This was first published in IPWatchdog on February 2, 2021. “The court found that the identification of trade secrets is an ‘iterative process where requests between parties lead to a refined and sufficiently particularized trade secret identification.’” Two of the most important issues in trade secret cases involve the timing of when the plaintiff is…
Read MoreDOJ’s “China Initiative”: An Upate
2020 was the two-year anniversary of the Department of Justice’s “China Initiative,” which was intended to increase the focus on the investigation and prosecution of trade secret theft and economic espionage with a Chinese connection under the Economic Espionage Act (“EEA”). According to the DOJ, it charged three economic espionage cases under 18 U.S.C. sec.…
Read MoreSupreme Court Ponders Proper Application of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
This article was first published in IPWatchdog.com on December 1, 2020. “On balance, and while it is sometimes difficult to forecast a Supreme Court outcome, the Court seemed extremely troubled by the government’s position.” In Van Buren v. United States, argued yesterday, the Supreme Court has a chance to address how the Computer Fraud and…
Read MoreDefending Trade Secrets with Protective Orders
This article was first published in IPWatchdog.com on October 27, 2020. “Plaintiffs must require the entry of a detailed stipulated protective order that adequately addresses the handling of trade secrets during pre-trial but also covers the trial and post-trial proceedings, including any appeal.” Plaintiffs in trade secret cases are often faced with the difficulty of…
Read MoreTrade Secrets Lessons from Epic Systems Corp. v. Tata Consultancy Services
“This is one of the largest-ever awards in a trade secret case. For smaller companies, it may be large enough to put them out of business. It is critical, therefore, that companies take steps, including training employees not to steal trade secrets.” On August 20, the Seventh Circuit in Epic Systems Corp. v. Tata Consultancy…
Read MoreImproper Means’: The Eleventh Circuit’s Very Dubious Trade Secrets Decision in Compulife Software v. Newman (Part II)
This article was first published in IPWatchdog.com on July 14, 2020. “The court’s analysis is flawed, and it relies on authority that is of limited value.” Part 1of this article addressed the Eleventh Circuit’s decision in Compulife Software, Inc. v. Newman, __ F.3d __, 2020 WL 2549505, (11th Cir. May 20, 2020) and the court’s…
Read MoreAre Machines “Agents” for Purposes of the Patent Venue Statute? (Part II)
This article was originally published in IPWatchdog.com “As technology evolves, and especially as artificial intelligence becomes smarter, plaintiffs will present new and creative arguments that the defendants have established a ‘regular place of business’ in a certain jurisdiction.” Part I of this article provided an overview of the Federal Circuit’s understanding of the patent venue…
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