Last year, Sergey Aleynikov, a computer programmer, beat federal charges of trade secret theft under the Economic Espionage Act. Although Aleynikov was initially convicted, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals overturned his conviction, finding that the trade secrets relating to the source code Aleynikov had taken were not related to a product “produced for. . . interstate or foreign
Continue Reading Aleynikov Case Continues to Grab Headlines in Trade Secrets Community

Last week, the United States Senate unanimously approved the Theft of Trade Secrets Clarification Act (“the TTSCA”). The TTSCA, which was co-authored by Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Senator Herbert Kohl of Wisconsin, was introduced as S.3462 in order to strengthen the Economic Espionage Act of 1996 (“the EEA”). To achieve this goal, the TTSCA broadens federal law to
Continue Reading United States Senate Unanimously Approves the Theft of Trade Secrets Clarification Act

By Jessica Mendelson and Grace Chuchla

Employers in the Second Circuit are thankful for a recent non-compete summary order in which the Court found that an employee’s challenge of his non-compete agreement by way of a preliminary injunction motion failed because he failed to show irreparable injury.

Specifically, the Court found that an employee’s potential loss of income does not
Continue Reading Employers Thankful For New Second Circuit Non-Compete Decision

In a 56-page opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit sent a long-pending trade secrets case, Jasco Tools, Inc. v. Dana Corporation, Appeal No. 08-2762-bk, back to the lower court for further proceedings because of the bankruptcy court’s "flawed application of well established summary judgment principles."  (Slip Op. at 32.)  In the case, Jasco alleged that

Continue Reading Defects in Summary Judgment Procedure Send Jasco v. Dana Trade Secrets Case Back to Bankruptcy Court