Trade Secret Attorney, Non-Compete Agreement Attorney

How To Protect a Trade Secret | Advice from an Internet Lawyer

Most companies spend a lot of time and monies to protect their trade secrets. Whether it's the formula for a popular soft drink, the recipe for take out chicken, or the design of the latest software platform, somebody could take the thing that makes your business or process unique and reap the benefits of what you've sown without remuneration to you. Attorney Mark Clark discusses trade secret law and what you can do to protect yourself.

• A trade secret is now defined under the law by statute.

• Most states in the United States have adopted some form of the Uniform Trade Secret Act.

• Trade secrets are defined as a formula, pattern, compilation, program, device, method, technique or process that has both independent economic value and is not generally known to or not readily accessible by other persons and is the subject of efforts to maintain its secrecy.

 

Today’s trade secret law program is brought to you by the attorneys at Traverse Legal, PLC, a global law firm specializing in internet law, trademark infringement, copyright infringement, cybersquatting, online defamation, non-compete and trade secret law, and complex litigation. If you have a legal or trade secret protection matter arising on the web, contact one of Traverse Legal’s internet lawyers today. Now here’s your host, Damien Allen.

Damien Allen: Good morning, and welcome to Traverse Legal Radio. My name is Damien Allen, and today joining me on the phone is Mark Clark, attorney at Traverse Legal, PLC. Good morning, Mark, and welcome to the program.

 

Mark Clark: Good morning, Damien. How are you?

Technology Trade Secret Protection | Data Breach is Risk Factor

How to Keep Corporate Secrets a Secret

One of the problems with corporate data breaches is the catastrophic risk to corporations when trade secrets, customer lists, pricing data and other critical information are exposed. Hal Abelson, Ken Ledeen and Harry Lewis, authors of "Blown to Bits: Your Life, Liberty, and Happiness after the Digital Explosion," explain how companies can use the right mix of process, people and advanced technologies to keep their data secure—and their CIOs out of the headlines. A must-read for internet lawyers interested in technology and trade secret protection. 

Technorati Tags: trade secrets, intellectual property

IBM v. PSI: Trade Secret Beheamoths

The trade secret dispute between IBM and PSI, two competitors in the highly profitable mainframe market, has taken another turn with PSI’s recent summary judgment filing on April 23.  This case emphasizes the importance of timely investigating and prosecuting your rights in trade secret cases.  A failure to assert your rights upon first noticing that your trade secrets may have been misappropriated can jeopardize your case later.  It is important to protect your trade secrets both in business dealings and in court.

Companies Must Do More To Define and Protect Their Trade Secrets

GLOBAL WATER GROUP, INC., Appellant v. Robert ATCHLEY and Aspen Water, Inc., Appellee. (The Trade Secrets Vault)

Court of Appeals of Texas, Dallas. GLOBAL WATER GROUP, INC., Appellant, v. Robert ATCHLEY and Aspen Water, Inc., Appellee. No. 05-06-00709-CV. Jan. 9, 2008.
Rehearing Overruled Feb. 14, 2008.

Background: Water purification corporation filed lawsuit against its former president and his competing water purification company, asserting claims for misappropriation of trade secrets and breach of shareholder agreement. Following a jury verdict in favor of plaintiff, defendants filed motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV). The 116th Judicial District Court, Dallas County, Robert Frost, J., granted motion. Plaintiff appealed.

Holdings: The Court of Appeals, O'Neill , J., held that:
(1) plaintiff's formula of compound used in "mixed media pod" during absorption step of water purification process was not a trade secret;
(2) sequence of process used by plaintiff in its water purification system was not a trade secret; and
(3) corporation's former president did not breach shareholder agreement.

Technorati Tags: trade secret, fiduciary, shareholder

Jury Finds Company Trade Secrets Enforceable: $17 Million in Punitive Damages Against Ex-Employees and New Employer

Trade Secret Jury Verdict : Innovative Technologies Corp. v. James Silcott et al. (The Trade Secrets Vault)

The jury awarded $6,475,855.44 in compensatory damages and $17 million in punitive damages in this massive trade secret theft verdict.

The jury found that the salaries of Innovative Technologies employees and its mapping strategies were trade secrets, or that Advanced Management Technologies and Kenton Trace Technologies misappropriated the plaintiff's trade secrets. Jurors found that the plaintiff suffered actual loss proximately caused by the defendants' misappropriation of its trade secrets or that the defendants were unjustly enriched by its misappropriation of the plaintiff's trade secrets.

They found that Advanced Management Technologies acted with purpose to procure contract breaches or terminate the business relationships the plaintiff had with its employees, and that there was no justification for Advanced Management Technologies' conduct. The jury found that Advanced Management Technologies' tortious interference with the plaintiff's business relationship and contracts with its employees was the proximate cause of the damages it suffered. Jurors found that Advanced Management Technologies engaged in a civil conspiracy with the individual defendants or the plaintiff's employees to cause it harm, which was a proximate cause of the plaintiff's damages.

The competing firm, Advanced Management Technology Inc. of Arlington, Va., was ordered to pay virtually all of the damages, Dyer said, having been found guilty of tortious inference with business relationships, civil conspiracy, and theft of trade secrets for acting in collusion with the former employees of Innovative Technologies.

Technorati Tags: trade secret, non-compete, jury, punitive damages

Non-Compete Agreements: A Primer on non-compete, non-solicitation and trade secret protection

Companies need to protect their trade secrets, confidential information and intangible property.  Non-compete, non-solicitation and trade secret agreements are important devices which can help increase company protection against misappropriation of trade secrets.  In general:

1. the broader the non-compete clause, the less enforceable it is;
2. the more an employee has access to confidential information or trade secrets, the more enforceable it is;
3. additional compensation paid for a non-compete clause makes a non-compete  more enforceable (although no additional compensation may be necessary at all).