preemption

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shutterstock_314177504Uber’s ongoing battle with Waymo in the Northern District of California federal court over technology used in self-driving cars provided another significant decision concerning the broad scope of trade secret preemption under California state law.

Waymo accused Levandowski (a former employee) of taking more than 14,000 company files before leaving Waymo and starting his own self-driving truck company (which Uber bought for $680 million). Waymo asserted several claims against Uber for misappropriation of trade secrets under the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act (“DTSA”) and the California Uniform Trade Secrets Act (“CUTSA”). In addition to the trade secret claims, Waymo asserted four claims for patent infringement and one claim for violation of section 17200 of California’s Business and Professions Code.
Continue Reading California Federal Court Finds CUTSA Preemption on Unfair Competition Claim in Uber Row

The nineteenth century English jurist Lord Ellenborough once observed that “it is difficult to struggle with the common law.”  Kerr v. Willan, 171 Eng. Rep 570 (K.B. 1817).  Nearly two centuries later, struggling with the common law is still a formidable task – especially in cases involving claims of trade secrets misappropriation under the Uniform Trade Secrets Act…
Continue Reading Arizona Supreme Court Holds that UTSA Does Not Preempt Common Law Claims for Misuse of Confidential Information That Is Not a Trade Secret

I recently presented on “Hot Topics In Trade Secret Law Across the Nation” at the ABA Annual Meeting in San Francisco, California.

Here are seven key takeaways regarding best practices and latest developments from the event that you may find useful:

Understanding the Importance of Trade Secret Preemption

Simply put, trade secret preemption or supersession is the concept that the …
Continue Reading Best Practices and Latest Developments in Trade Secret Law

Can Oregon employers bring conversion claims against employees who misappropriate confidential information without having their claims preempted by the state’s Uniform Trade Secrets Act? According to a recent Oregon federal district court opinion, the answer is “yes”; however, in several other states, the answer is “no”.

This result highlights the continued divergence of opinion across the nation…

Continue Reading Conversion Claim for Theft of Confidential Information Not Preempted By Trade Secrets Act

According to the allegations in a recently filed complaint, Defendant Implementation Management Assistance, Inc. (“IMA”) hired a long-time employee, Liana Hans, away from competitor Plaintiff Triage Consulting Group, Inc. (“Triage”). Hans allegedly had intimate knowledge of Triage’s proprietary systems and allegedly shared that knowledge with IMA, in derogation of her confidentiality agreement with Triage. IMA thereafter recruited another Triage employee,…
Continue Reading Pennsylvania Federal Court Affirms Broad Pleading Standard for Uniform Trade Secrets Act and Ability to Plead Preempted Claims in the Alternative

A designer and marketer of stereophonic technology for presenting 3-D imaging on a computer screen recently sued some ex-employees in a California federal court for allegedly violating the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), among other claims. At some point, the ex-employees allegedly downloaded their former employer’s confidential computer code and provided it to their new employer, a competitor.  …
Continue Reading California Federal Court Dismisses Computer Fraud and State Unfair Competition Claims Alleged Against Ex-Employees Accused Of Stealing Computer Source Code

By Robert B. Milligan, Jessica Mendelson, and Daniel Joshua Salinas

Company information that is sensitive, but may not rise to the level of a trade secret is protectable in California, isn’t it?

Not necessarily. Some recent California decisions have significantly limited an employer’s ability to pursue certain claims and remedies based upon the theft of mere confidential or proprietary information …
Continue Reading Growing California Trade Secret Preemption Doctrine May Thwart Efforts To Combat Employee Data Theft

Cases defining the scope of the California Uniform Trade Secrets Act’s (“CUTSA”) preemptive effect have grown in recent years.  Preemption (or “supersession” as the California Supreme Court prefers), increasingly is used by litigants to seek dismissal of non-trade secret causes of action pleaded alongside trade secret claims and which allegedly fall within the scope of CUTSA.  This has been particularly…
Continue Reading Recent California Supreme Court Decision Stokes Debate Over Scope of Trade Secret Preemption

In Seyfarth’s first installment of its 2013 Trade Secrets Webinar series, Seyfarth attorneys Michael Wexler, Robert Milligan, and Joshua Salinas will review noteworthy cases and other legal developments from across the nation this past year in the areas of trade secrets and data theft, non-compete enforceability, computer fraud, and company owned social media accounts and social media policies, as well…
Continue Reading 2012 National Year in Review: What You Need to Know About the Recent Cases/Developments in Trade Secrets, Non-Compete, and Computer Fraud Law

By Daniel Hargis

The case of Illumination Management Solutions, Inc. v. Ruud pending in the Eastern District of Wisconsin exemplifies the continuing lack of certainty on the scope of California Uniform Trade Secrets Act (“CUTSA”) preemption when the claims potentially subject to preemption concern information that itself may not qualify as a trade secret but is nevertheless confidential or proprietary.
Continue Reading Wisconsin Federal Court Finds That Common Law Claims Are Preempted by the California Uniform Trade Secrets Act