In Direct Biologics L.L.C. v. McQueen, et al., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit vacated a lower court’s dismissal of a trade secret and restrictive covenants suit, but nonetheless stressed the need for movants seeking a preliminary injunction in trade secrets cases to provide specific evidence of the irreparable harm caused by both actual and potential
Continue Reading Fifth Circuit Spares Trade Secrets Suit, But Clarifies That Specific Evidence of Irreparable Harm Must Support Request for Preliminary Injunction
In the second annual installment of Seyfarth Shaw’s 
With unemployment levels reaching a new high during the global pandemic, courts across the country have become increasingly reluctant to enforce non-compete agreements in employment contracts. As an example, a recent district court case, Robert Garcia v. USA Industries, Inc., demonstrates what may be a shift in Texas’ formerly lenient approach to non-competes. There, the court granted the plaintiff’s request for a temporary restraining order against the non-compete clause in his severance agreement, finding not only that there was inadequate consideration to enforce the non-compete provision, but that the provision itself was unreasonable. While this is only one case, in light of this shift in the interpretation of non-compete agreements as reflected in this decision, companies should ensure that their non-competes are reasonable as to scope and time, supported by adequate consideration, and narrowly tailored to protect the company’s legitimate business interests so as to increase the chances of the agreement being upheld. This will only become more important as more and more states pass restrictive covenants legislation limiting what is permissible.
Robert Milligan authored an article in the Daily Journal, 
In a decision of first impression issued last week, the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee held, in 
The much-ballyhooed legal battle over trade secrets concerning self-driving automobile technology involving Uber took its latest (and perhaps final) turn last week, when engineer Anthony Levandowski was sentenced to 18 months in prison and ordered to pay over $700,000 in restitution.
The American Intellectual Property Law Association’s (AIPLA) Trade Secret Committee (of which partner Erik Weibust is Vice Chair) is taking its annual Trade Secret Law Summit online this year, with a series of weekly webinars. The first of the series, on Wednesday, August 12, 2020, at 2:00 p.m. EST, features partner Scott Humphrey, who will be moderating a panel entitled
Partner Erik Weibust will be speaking on Thursday, August 13, 2020, at 12:00 p.m. EST, on an American Bar Association webinar entitled “Non-Compete Update: Practical Guidance in Response to COVID-19.” Erik will be covering topics including “Enforcing Non-Competes During High Unemployment” and “Preparation and Pursuit of Non-Compete Litigation During Court Closures/Limited Access.” Other topics include: