In our recent webinar, “Trade Secrets Audits: Strengthening Your Company’s IP Protection,” Seyfarth’s Intellectual Property Partner, Lauren Leipold, along with Trade Secret Attorneys Eddy Salcedo and James Yu, shared essential strategies for enhancing IP protection in today’s complex landscape. As corporate espionage and data breaches become increasingly prevalent, the session provided valuable insights on effective methods for safeguarding your company’s
Continue Reading Webinar Recap! Trade Secrets Audits: Strengthening Your Company’s IP ProtectionIntellectual Property
Upcoming Webinar! Trade Secrets Audits: Strengthening Your Company’s IP Protection
Tuesday, October 1, 2024
1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Eastern
12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. Central
11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Mountain
10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Pacific
For more information and to register, click here.
About the Program
In a world where corporate espionage and data breaches are increasingly common, protecting your company’s intellectual property is more vital…
Continue Reading Upcoming Webinar! Trade Secrets Audits: Strengthening Your Company’s IP ProtectionCloaked in Secrecy: Can Secrecy Orders Shield Alien Innovations?
This post was originally published to Seyfarth’s Gadgets, Gigabytes & Goodwill Blog.
In a recent post, we discussed whether patent applications could provide insight into the blueprints of extraterrestrial spacecraft. Yet, an enigmatic question looms large: would the powers that be genuinely consider patenting such advanced technology, fully aware that patent applications might see the light of day? Or might there be a more clandestine approach, a proverbial cloak of invisibility wielded by the men in black?
Under the Invention Secrecy Act of 1951, federal law prevents the disclosure of new technologies and inventions that may present a national security threat to the United States. Under this act, the Commissioner of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has the authority to highlight patent applications for scrutiny by U.S. defense departments (e.g., various three-letter and four-letter government agencies), ensuring certain innovations remain confidential. This veil of secrecy could extend to concepts and items conceived by individual civilians. Patents falling under such a secrecy directive are accessible to defense bodies, have export limitations, and are considered classified. Accordingly, the publication of such patent applications, or even the granting of a patent, could be delayed or altogether suppressed. These orders are in place to protect sensitive technologies from falling into the wrong hands. As of 2022, USPTO records show that there were 6,057 secrecy orders in effect. Continue Reading Cloaked in Secrecy: Can Secrecy Orders Shield Alien Innovations?
Seyfarth Partner Dawn Mertineit to Speak at 2023 IPO Annual Conference
Seyfarth partner Dawn Mertineit will be attending and presenting at the Intellectual Property Owners Association Annual Conference in Boston from September 10-12. This event brings together Intellectual Property professionals across law firms, corporations, service providers, and academia and offers educational programs, committee meetings, and networking opportunities.
Dawn will be speaking on a panel titled “Trade Secrets Under Pressure from the…
Continue Reading Seyfarth Partner Dawn Mertineit to Speak at 2023 IPO Annual ConferenceSpilling Secrets to AI: Does Chatting with ChatGPT Unleash Trade Secret or Invention Disclosure Dilemmas?
This article was originally published on Seyfarth’s Gadgets, Gigabytes & Goodwill blog.
If there is anything movies like The Terminator have shown us, it’s that AI systems might one day become self-aware and wreak havoc. But until Skynet becomes self-aware, let’s enjoy the AI toy that is quickly becoming a part of our daily lives. Some Samsung employees recently discovered that playing with AI models like ChatGPT may have unexpected consequences. These employees used ChatGPT for work and shared sensitive data, such as source code and meeting minutes. This incident was labeled as a “data leak” due to fears that ChatGPT would disclose the data to the public once it is trained on the data. In response, many companies took action, such as banning or restricting access, or creating ChatGPT data disclosure policies.Continue Reading Spilling Secrets to AI: Does Chatting with ChatGPT Unleash Trade Secret or Invention Disclosure Dilemmas?
Webinar Recap! 2022 Trade Secrets & Non-Competes Year in Review
In the second installment of the 2023 Trade Secrets Webinar Series, Seyfarth attorneys reviewed noteworthy legislation, cases, and legal developments from across the nation over the last year in the areas of trade secrets and data theft, non-competes and other restrictive covenants, and computer fraud. Plus, they provided predictions for what to expect in 2023.
As a conclusion to this…
Continue Reading Webinar Recap! 2022 Trade Secrets & Non-Competes Year in ReviewRansomware Attacks: Harmless Annoyances or Catastrophic Events?
This post was originally published on Seyfarth’s Gadgets, Gigabytes & Goodwill blog.
Ransomware attacks have become one of the most common and pervasive cybercrimes perpetrated against US companies. A bad actor, often from overseas, will gain access to upload malware onto a company’s network storage or application platforms that encrypts all files it can access. A message or text file is usually left with instructions on how to contact the attacker to pay a ransom for the decryption key. In the worst case, a ransomware attack can freeze the business operations by effectively removing access to the company’s critical systems and rendering them useless. Aside from the business impact, what legal implications are created by a ransomware attack?Continue Reading Ransomware Attacks: Harmless Annoyances or Catastrophic Events?
Future Employer Survey Results Highlight Need For Companies To Implement Thoughtful Policies To Protect Company Data and Intellectual Property in Hybrid Work Environment
Earlier this year, Seyfarth Shaw partnered to issue the 2022 Future Employer survey to clients and contacts. We surveyed in-house legal and business leaders to find out how they are thinking about the “Future of Work.” This was an important continuation of Seyfarth’s thought leadership endeavors related to futurist legal-thinking and the future of work, which we formalized five years ago with the inaugural survey in 2017. With respect to the protection of company data and intellectual property, the survey results highlight the need for companies to have thoughtful policies and procedures that address data usage and retention in a hybrid work environment.Continue Reading Future Employer Survey Results Highlight Need For Companies To Implement Thoughtful Policies To Protect Company Data and Intellectual Property in Hybrid Work Environment
Upcoming Webinar! Protecting Confidential Information and Client Relationships in the Financial Services Industry
Wednesday, November 16, 2022
1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Eastern
12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. Central
11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Mountain
10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Pacific
In the seventh installment of the 2022 Trade Secrets Webinar Series, Seyfarth attorneys will focus on trade secret and client relationship considerations in the banking and financial services industry.
Seyfarth…
Continue Reading Upcoming Webinar! Protecting Confidential Information and Client Relationships in the Financial Services IndustryRecent Hot Topics and Developments in Trade Secrets Law
There have been some noteworthy recent decisions in trade secrets law. This blog post summarizes some of the significant decisions grouped by the hot topics below.
Sufficiency of Trade Secret Pleadings and Allegations of Misappropriation
Continue Reading Recent Hot Topics and Developments in Trade Secrets Law