Intellectual Property Law

Secrets of Staying Dry at The Ryder Cup

Posted on October 01, 2010
Well, we don't know what the American and European Captains have up their sleeves for this weekend but it obviously includes . . . rain gear. Good luck to both sides. The Welsh countryside looks damp and cold but we're certain things will warm up once the putts start dropping...

Another Womble Trade Secrets Blog First - Trade Secrets Claim Made to Stop Political Rally!

Posted on September 30, 2010
The Washington Business Journal is reporting that a production company for large-scale entertainment and political rallies is asking a federal judge to halt a rally that a liberal political coalition is planning for this Saturday on the National Mall, alleging the group publicized the production company?s trade secrets while planning the event...

Trade Secret Litigation Filings Soar in the U.K.

Posted on September 29, 2010
Bloomberg is reporting that lawsuits filed in the United Kingdom to protect corporate secrets are becoming more and more common. They report that disputes over trade secrets at the High Court increased from 23 two years ago to 95 last year, while intellectual property cases overall rose 37 percent...

FBI: Data Thieves Want Green Technology

Posted on September 27, 2010
The FBI put out a press release on Friday that identifies "green technology" as a technology sector targeted by trade secret thieves. We thought you might appreciate reading their release.

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Bratz Dolls Trade Secret Case Renders Ron Brawer a Professional Witness

Posted on September 21, 2010
We've covered the ins-and-outs of this Bratz Dolls trade secrets case and decided you might like to see the most recent motion filed in the case - one for a protective order to stop the SEVENTH deposition of a guy named Ron Brawer. Apparently Mr. Brawer used to work for Mattel and now he works for MGA and he's been deposed six times already for a total of 45 hours...

No Unjust Enrichment Won?t Let You Off the Hook for Reasonable Royalties under California Trade Secrets Act

Posted on September 19, 2010
What happens when you can?t ? or don?t ? prove actual damages or unjust enrichment in your trade secrets case?E*Trade (annoying baby mascot pictured) just found out the answer in a recent case from the California Court of Appeal, Ajaxo Inc. v. E*Trade Financial Corp...

Surveying Trade Secrets Allegedly Pilfered in Minnesota

Posted on September 16, 2010
Sometimes we blog a news story that doesn't have any national or international legal implications but we do it just to demonstrate that trade secret theft and allegations of the same are popping up in locations and businesses where you wouldn't expect it...

Australian Supermarket Trade Secrets and Defection Matter

Posted on September 14, 2010
We try our best at Womble Trade Secrets to insure our readers learn about the global implications of trade secret law and its development and refinement. Today we note that The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting about an interesting case that involves a former manager in the supermarket business and his designs on investing in a competitive business following his resignation...

Guilty Plea By Former Valspar Scientist Nabbed with Thumb Drive Containing Trade Secrets

Posted on September 02, 2010
We first posted about the arrest and indictment of David Yen Lee of Jersey City, New Jersey here: http://wombletradesecrets.blogspot.com/2009/03/chicago-area-valspar-employee-arrested.html.Yesterday Mr. Lee pled guilty to the charges of economic espionage...

Economic Espionage Unicorn Returns - This Time in Indianapolis

Posted on September 01, 2010
We initially posted about this case here: http://wombletradesecrets.blogspot.com/2010/07/trade-secrets-unicorn-economic.html. It's back. Bloomberg News is reporting that a former Dow AgroSciences LLC researcher was indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly stealing trade secrets from the company and relaying them to China...

India and Trade Secrets: Former Board Member of Bombay Company Enjoined as to Some Information, But Not All, He Learned

Posted on August 31, 2010
The Times of India is reporting on a new decision rendered by the Bombay High Court - certain Board discussions and business plans of a real estate company can NOT be treated as trade secrets under Indian law. The suit was brought by Bombay Dyeing against former Board Member Mehar Karan Singh...

Todd Sullivan on Bloomberg Radio: Facebook Lawsuit

Posted on August 31, 2010
RALEIGH, N.C.?Who owns a good idea? With increasing frequency, those questions are being answered in courtooms?and millions, or even billions, of dollars are at stake. The most notable recent example is an ongoing lawsuit concerning the ownership of Facebook...

University of Minnesota Professor at the Center of Anti-oxidant Trade Secret Fight

Posted on August 30, 2010
TwinCities.com is reporting on an interesting issue in trade secrets law: can an insider release trade secrets maintained by a corporation and invalidate those trade secrets without any authorization or knowledge of the corporation? The answer would seem to be "of course" but this is an issue that will surely be litigated in this matter...

Full Appellate Panel at Second Circuit Won't Reconsider Fed Bailout Data Ruling

Posted on August 26, 2010
On August 20, the en banc grouping (that's all of them, folks) of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York City refused the Federal Reserve's request to reconsider a unanimous three-judge panel?s March 19 ruling in Bloomberg LP's Freedom of Information Act suit for access to records relating to its $2 trillion emergency lending program...

The Human Side of A Trade Secret Misappropriation Allegation

Posted on August 25, 2010
Today we link you to the interesting story in today's New York Observer about Nicholas S.G. Stern, the 42-year old son of the renowned architect and Dean of the Yale School of Architecture, A.M. Stern. This is a trade secrets blog, you note?Well, seems young Mr...

"Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee" - Boyfriend Who Tried to Sell Stolen Disney Earnings Data Probably Wishing Upon a Star Now

Posted on August 24, 2010
DNAinfo is reporting that the boyfriend of a former Disney executive secretary has pleaded guilty of attempting to sell inside information regarding Disney and, alas, actually sold it to federal agents. Charges against the girlfriend, Barbara Hoxie, are still pending...

Tom Brady Not Giving Away His Trade Secrets of Quarterbacking

Posted on August 23, 2010
Well - we don't only cover dull and boring trade secrets topics. This just out from The Boston Herald - Tom Brady isn't giving up the secrets of his quarterback skills yet. Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan was interested in Brady giving him some hints but wasn't surprised when the older, more experienced Brady didn't give him much...

Bratz Hitz Back at Mattel

Posted on August 18, 2010
It?s football season, so apparently it?s time to trot out the old adage about the best defense being a good offense. This time in the ever-lasting Barbie vs. Bratz fight that we?ve reported on most recently here. According to an article in Law.com, defendant MGA Entertainment, Inc...

Departing Wells Fargo Vice-President Accused of Looting Data and Clients

Posted on August 18, 2010
The complaint in a recently filed federal suit is linked when you click on the title of this blog post above.As you'll read, Wells Fargo accuses Glenn Frank of lots of bad things - including, interestingly, intentionally lying to clients and telling them that the bank had a secret plan to invest client funds in bank vehicles without the clients' consent...

EPA Proposing Chemical Regulation Changes That Implicate Industry Trade Secret Issues

Posted on August 17, 2010
OMB Watch is reporting that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed several changes to its regulation of chemicals that should improve the public's access to crucial information. The proposed rule is the latest of several actions by the EPA to use its existing authority under the nation's primary chemical law, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), to improve the public's access to chemical data and prevent manufacturers from inappropriately hiding health and safety information as alleged trade secrets...

Apple Employee Indicted for Taking Kickbacks in Exchange for Disclosing Confidential Information

Posted on August 16, 2010
Charges were filed against Apple's global supply manager Paul Shin Devine last Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, according to court documents. Several news reports said Devine was arrested Friday.Devine was accused of accepting $1 million in kickbacks from half a dozen Asian suppliers of iPhone and iPod accessories in a federal indictment and a civil suit, the San Jose Mercury News reported...

Accused Ford Motor Trade Secrets Thief Needs Time to Consider Plea Bargain Options

Posted on August 12, 2010
We originally reported about his matter here: http://wombletradesecrets.blogspot.com/2009/11/alleged-ford-motor-trade-secret-thief.htmlLawyers have been discussing a possible plea deal in a case involving a former Ford Motor Co. engineer charged with stealing trade secrets...

What Keeps IP Counsel Up at Night? Trade Secret Loss in China

Posted on August 11, 2010
Law.com has an interesting piece suggesting that trade secret loss to China is the primary thing keeping corporate IP counsel up at night. Here's an excerpt from the piece:They (in-house counsel meeting in San Francisco during an ABA meeting) talked in-depth about how they deal with their biggest and most important concern -- protecting their companies? trade secrets...

Company Secrets Inadvertently Retained on Copying Machines?

Posted on August 10, 2010
The Epoch Times is running this interesting piece on photocopiers and printers that have been discarded or junked actually representing a threat - a threat of trade secret and competitively sensitive information actually contained on those machines. ?Thousands of these machines leave businesses every month with the internal data intact,? according to Digital CopierSecurity Inc...

All the Tea in China - New Book on Perhaps the Biggest Economic Espionage Ever

Posted on August 09, 2010
FastCompany has an interview with Sarah Rose who has written a new book "For All the Tea in China" regarding the British Empire's efforts to steal the secrets of planting and manufacturing tea from the Chinese. The interview makes a fascinating read and we're going to try and get a copy of this book, too...

Trade Secrets of the Securities and Exchange Commission

Posted on August 07, 2010
The new financial reform law gives the SEC extensive investigatory powers to seek out information from the regulated, but limits how much of that information must be provided to the public under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The Commission says the broad exemption from FOIA is necessary to gather confidential business data from industry insiders who otherwise would fear that their trade secrets would be made public...

Trade Secrets of Making a Killer Black Bean Dip?!? Dallas Trade Secrets Case Pits One Restaurant Against Another

Posted on August 05, 2010
The Dallas Morning News is running an interesting piece today on a trade secret battle that's brewing in a Dallas courtroom. A former Gloria's manager named Mario Alfaro apparently opened a competitive restaurant and, according to Gloria Rubio's legal papers, has a plan to steal her recipes, employees and customers...

Massachusetts Right to Repair Act Has Trade Secrets Monkeywrench Thrown At It

Posted on August 03, 2010
The Boston Globe is reporting that a piece of legislation requiring auto manufacturers to give independent mechanics the same diagnostic codes offered to mechanics at dealerships has hit a roadblock.The Massachusetts Senate passed a version of the bill in the spring, but the Massachusetts House failed to take any action on the measure before the session ended Saturday...

Chico's-Cache Trade Secret Spat Back to New York State Court

Posted on August 02, 2010
As most of our readers know, trade secret law is primarily a creature of state law and this makes it different from other types of intellectual property (patent, copyright, trademark). As such, many trade secret theft cases are litigated in this country's state courts, and not the federal courts, when the parties are located or headquartered in the same states...

Trade Secrets of Ultimate Fighting - Stolen?

Posted on July 30, 2010
USA Today is reporting that the parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and World Extreme Cagefighting says agent Ken Pavia illegally passed trade secrets to Bellator Fighting Championships.The company accuses Mr. Pavia of revealing confidential information to Bellator about mixed martial artists' contracts...

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