A recent case in Massachusetts confirms that taking affirmative steps to protect the confidentiality of trade secrets is absolutely critical to litigating a claim for misappropriation. In C.R.T.R. v. Lao, Plymouth Superior Court Docket No. 2011-962 (Dec. 30, 2013), the plaintiff sued a former independent contractor for, among other things, misappropriation of the company’s trade secrets. The defendant
Continue Reading Massachusetts Court Confirms That When It Comes To Trade Secrets, Confidentiality Is Key

A South Dakota company recently found itself subject to personal jurisdiction in California by a California federal court despite its arguments that it lacked sufficient “minimum contacts” to establish such jurisdiction. The district court held that the company’s alleged knowledge of and involvement with a new employee’s alleged misappropriation of trade secrets in California purposefully availed the company to jurisdiction
Continue Reading California Federal Court Finds Specific Jurisdiction Over South Dakota Company For Alleged Involvement in Misappropriation of Trade Secrets

Does using a labeled truck identifying your company to deliver products to your clients make your client list publicly available? Will doing so undermine protecting your client list as a trade secret?  Last month, the defendant in a case before a federal district judge in California tried to make that argument, and while the case was decided on other grounds,
Continue Reading Is Your Company’s Customer List Still A Trade Secret If Your Company Uses Labeled Delivery Trucks?

A recent federal decision from Connecticut confirms the notion that information knowingly posted on the Internet by its owner cannot constitute a protectable trade secret.  

On April 1, 2011, April Fools’ Day, a human relations consulting firm SharedXpertise allegedly disseminated by email and on its website a false statement that it had acquired its competitor LRP Publications. Kutik, a consultant for LRP, was offended. He

Continue Reading April Fools’ Day Prank Leads To Trade Secrets Litigation

On March 21, 2012, in the case of Pyro Spectaculars, Inc. et al. v. Souza, Case No. 12-CV-00299-GGH, Magistrate Judge Gregory G. Hollows of the USDC for the Eastern District of California (Sacramento Division), issued an order preliminarily enjoining a former Account Executive for a pyrotechnics company from soliciting the customers of his former employer.  There are several notable

Continue Reading Fireworks Fly, California District Court Enjoins Former Pyrotechnics Company Employee From Soliciting Former Employer’s Customers