I have at least had a chance to read the December 27, 2012 decision of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington in Amazon.com v. Powers, granting in part and denying in...
The Economic Espionage Act of 1996, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1831-39, creates two causes of action: (1) under section 1831, to criminalize foreign espionage; and (2) under section 1832, to criminalize the theft...
Once again, this installment of “Trade Secret | Noncompete Issues and Cases in the News” is my vacation readings update. There is again a lot here! Enjoy… Federal/Antitrust: In October 2009,...
It seems that, lately, each installment of Trade Secret | Noncompete Issues and Cases in the News could be called, “What I read over my vacation.” As was inevitably the case, given the time betwee...
Once again, I am a bit behind on the next installment of Trade Secret | Noncompete Issues and Cases in the News. As a result, there is a lot here! Enjoy... 7th Circuit: The 7th Circuit Court of Ap...
The BRR 50 State Noncompete Chart has been updated (as of April 29, 2012) to reflect an update to Illinois, Montana, Texas, and Wisconsin laws. The Illinois Supreme Court has rejected the co...
The Maryland legislature has become the first state legislature to pass a bill forbidding employers from demanding - or even asking for - social media (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) usernames a...
It's time for this month's Trade Secret | Noncompete Issues and Cases in the News. Trade Secrets on the Internet: In the most recent case to address the issue of the effect of trade secrets being...
I am a bit behind on the January round-up, so, I've included some recent events through today. As with the other roundups, in addition to the brief summaries, you will find links for more in-depth rea...
There have been lots of legislative changes in the offing. One of them was New Jersey's adoption of the Uniform Trade Secrets Act. Well, it is now official. Governor Christie has signed it. That leave...
This year saw not one, but two cases involving allegations of trade secret misappropriation and breach of noncompete agreements by companies typically known for things other than their trade secrets....
Like a similar post last month, this post provides a summary of noncompete and trade secret issues and cases that have arisen in the past month or so, but that I have not already addressed in recent p...
There has been much uncertainty in Massachusetts about whether and under what circumstances a claim under G.L. c. 93A (for those not from Massachusetts, that's our unfair competition statute, which pr...
This is a quick update on a significant decision issued yesterday ... The Illinois Supreme Court has rejected the controversial notion expressed in a 2009 decision from an Illinois appellate court...
Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly's Editorial Advisory Board calls the noncompete bill pending in the MA legislature "a step in the right direction." (As the lead drafter and advisor on the bill, I have co...
About two years ago, my partner Steve Riden and I wrote a blog post on my old blog (the Trade Secrets / Noncompete Blog) entitled, Back to the Basics... The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. The post wa...
This post provides a summary of noncompete and trade secret issues and cases that have arisen in the past month or so, but that I have not already addressed in recent posts. In addition to my summary,...
Your employee markets your company through Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube. The employee develops – as he or she is asked to do – a substantial network. Later, your employee leaves. Wh...
About a year a a half ago, I was curious to see how many actual reported trade secret / noncompete decisions were issued each year. So, I did a "back of the envelope" calculation. The results are here...
This post relates to the procedural practice of law (litigation, really). Although not specific to "Unfair Competition," it is particularly relevant to these issues, given the frequent comparison of C...
Unlike patents, trademarks, and copyright, there is no federal trade secret statute. Instead, each of the 50 states has its own laws. And, although most of states have adopted some version of the Unif...
Earlier today (September 15), the Massachusetts legislature’s Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development took testimony on the pending bills to reform Massachusetts noncompete law: two to...
The Joint Committee on Labor & Workforce Development has officially announced that it will be conducting a hearing on, among other things, the Massachusetts noncompete bill on September 15. The he...
The United States District Court for the District of New Jersey recently issued a decision (Syncsort Incorporated v. Innovative Routines, International, Inc.) providing one more piece in the puzzl...