Espionage

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In a year in which the United States has brought and prosecuted a series of high-profile criminal cases under the Economic Espionage Act (“EEA”), another one was recently added to the roll call in the Southern District of Indiana, this time against two former high-level scientists with pharmaceutical giant, Eli Lilly. 

On August 14, 2013, a grand jury in the …
Continue Reading Two Former Eli Lilly Scientists Accused of Stealing $55 Million in Trade Secrets on Behalf of Chinese Pharmaceutical Company In Southern District of Indiana Indictment

In a story that Hollywood would love to script, the U.S. Government charged Sinovel and its executives with soliciting the then-head of the Automation Engineering Department of AMSC’s Austrian subsidiary, AMSC Windtec GmbH, to steal AMSC’s source code in order that Sinovel might bypass a commercial relationship with AMSC and utilize AMSC’s trade secrets without paying for ongoing software licenses.  …
Continue Reading AMSC/Sinovel Industrial Espionage Thriller Takes a Procedural Detour, Threatening U.S. Criminal Prosecution

In Parts I and II of this post, we looked at the Court’s ruling on Nosal’s motion for acquittal and new trial following his conviction of three CFAA counts, two EEA counts and one count of conspiracy. In this final part, we look at what may lie ahead for Nosal and lessons employers may learn from this case.

What’s Next …
Continue Reading Nosal Update: Court Denies Motion for Acquittal and New Trial in Marathon CFAA and Trade Secret Misappropriation Criminal Case – Part III

In Part I of this post, we reviewed the Court’s ruling on Nosal’s conviction on the CFAA counts. Here in Part II, we turn to the Court’s ruling on the EEA counts, and the exclusion of evidence regarding Nosal’s non-compete provision.

B.    Nosal’s Conviction on the EEA Counts:

Nosal was convicted of two counts under the EEA for downloading,…
Continue Reading Nosal Update: Court Denies Motion for Acquittal and New Trial in Marathon CFAA and Trade Secret Misappropriation Criminal Case – Part II

The Obama Administration recently issued its 2013 Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement, building on the Joint Strategic Plan issued three years ago. In its 88 pages, the 2013 Plan outlines steps for federal agencies to take over the next three years to combat “[IP] infringement that has a significant impact on the economy, the global economic …
Continue Reading Obama Administration Issues Joint Strategic Plan To Protect America’s Intellectual Property

By Robert Milligan and Joshua Salinas

Representative Zoe Lofgren (D- CA) has been very active in the technology and innovation legislation space of late. Last week, Representative Lofgren and Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) formally introduced companion bills, nicknamed “Aaron’s Law,” in the House and Senate seeking to amend the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. Almost unnoticed was the fact…
Continue Reading Representative Zoe Lofgren Introduces Bill to Create Private Civil Claim for Trade Secrets Theft Under the Economic Espionage Act

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey recently charged a former employee with stealing trade secrets from a New Jersey medical technology company. 

The former employee, an Indian national, worked in a group at his former employer responsible for the manufacture of pen injectors and pre-fillable syringes.  He resigned from the company last month, and in the weeks leading up …
Continue Reading Foreign Engineer Arrested For Trade Secret Theft Involving Medical Technology

Cybersecurity has become a growing concern in the United States.  Legislation impacting this topic covers a variety of fields, including national security and defense, trade and international relations, intellectual property, and even privacy and civil liberties.  As technology is constantly changing, so too are the types of restrictions in place.

A group of prominent American Senators recently introduced the Deter …
Continue Reading Federal Legislation Proposed To Combat Cyber-Espionage

California partners Robert Milligan and Jim McNairy will be presenting at a day long Bridgeport Trade Secret and Cybersecurity Program in Los Angeles on May 17th.

Trade secret litigation and employee mobility cases are the hottest areas of intellectual property and employment litigation. More and more senior level executives and employees are leaving one company to start or join a …
Continue Reading Seyfarth Attorneys Lead Trade Secrets and Cybersecurity Program

We have previously written about Sergey Aleynikov, a former computer programmer for an investment bank who beat federal charges of trade secret theft under the Economic Espionage Act in 2012.  Although Aleynikov was initially convicted of these charges, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals overturned his conviction, finding that the trade secrets relating to the source code Aleynikov had taken …
Continue Reading New York State Court Rejects Double Jeopardy Argument In Data Theft Case