An employee entered into non-compete and confidentiality agreements with his employer. Following his resignation from that company, he went to work for a competitor. His job functions and territory with both employers were similar. In a suit for violation of the non-compete and confidentiality agreements, a Texas federal court held recently that — absent an injunction — disclosure to his
Continue Reading Preliminary Injunction Entered After Texas Federal Court Concludes That Ex-Employee “Inevitably” Will Disclose His Former Employer’s Trade Secrets
Texas Federal Court Imposes Ongoing Royalty Rather Than Permanent Injunction Against Alleged Trade Secret Misappropriator
A Texas federal trial court, finding the absence of any legal precedence to award an ongoing royalty in a trade secret misappropriation case, looked to the patent laws to impose an ongoing royalty. As a result, rather than permanently enjoining the misappropriator from continuing, the trial court imposed a royalty, thereby allowing the victim some compensation but allowing the other
Continue Reading Texas Federal Court Imposes Ongoing Royalty Rather Than Permanent Injunction Against Alleged Trade Secret Misappropriator
Randy Bruchmiller Discussing the Finer Points of the Texas Uniform Trade Secrets Act
The Texas Uniform Trade Secrets Act was signed into law in 2013 and applies to any misappropriation of trade secrets occurring on or after September 1, 2013. Texas trial and appellate courts will be interpreting these new provisions of Texas law as new trade secrets cases work their way through the legal system. Randy Bruchmiller weighs in on a couple
Continue Reading Randy Bruchmiller Discussing the Finer Points of the Texas Uniform Trade Secrets Act
Texas And North Carolina Appellate Courts Repulse Efforts To Enforce Restrictive Covenants
In two unrelated cases decided earlier this month, employers failed in their attempts to enjoin former employees from competing. The Texas First District Court of Appeals vacated parts of the lower court’s injunction order, one part because it did not detail with sufficient specificity the conduct that was enjoined, and another part where the order was sufficiently specific but erroneously
Continue Reading Texas And North Carolina Appellate Courts Repulse Efforts To Enforce Restrictive Covenants
Texas Trade Secrets Decision Helps Energy Companies
Seismic information about potential oil and gas reservoirs and other sensitive data are regularly used by energy companies to make business decisions and compete in the market. Energy companies must take reasonable precautions to protect such trade secrets. For example, trade secret status may be destroyed if the trade secret is disclosed to a party that has not signed a
Continue Reading Texas Trade Secrets Decision Helps Energy Companies
Texas Appellate Court Affirms Multi-Million Dollar Jury Verdict For Trade Secret Misappropriation in Gas Drilling Dispute
Under Texas law, disclosure of a trade secret to potential investors to enable them to decide whether to invest does not destroy secrecy. Those who learn of the confidential information under those circumstances are not authorized to destroy its protection and may not use the information in a manner harmful to the interests of the one making the disclosure.
Careful, that Slice of Pizza You’re Eating Might Be Full of Trade Secrets…
It’s time for yet another meal filled with trade secrets!
Earlier this month, New York Pizzeria, Inc., a pizzeria chain with over thirty restaurants in the United States and the Middle East, filed a complaint in federal court in Texas alleging trade secret misappropriation. New York Pizzeria alleged that a former employee, as well as individual restaurant owners, were conspiring
Continue Reading Careful, that Slice of Pizza You’re Eating Might Be Full of Trade Secrets…
Texas Changes Law To Strengthen The Ability Of Companies To Protect Their Information
Until recently, Texas common law governed misappropriation of trade secrets lawsuits in Texas. That changed when he 2013 Texas legislature adopted a version of the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (“UTSA”). The new act is known as the Texas Uniform Trade Secrets Act (“TUTSA”). New York and Massachusetts are now the only two states to not adopt some form or variation
Texas Uniform Trade Secrets Act Now Applicable
Texas recently adopted a version of the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (“UTSA”). The new act will be known as the Texas Uniform Trade Secrets Act (“TUTSA”). New York and Massachusetts are now the only two states to not adopt some form or variation of the UTSA.
The TUTSA takes effect during the Labor Day weekend on September 1, 2013. However,
Continue Reading Texas Uniform Trade Secrets Act Now Applicable
Physician Noncompetition Agreements May Be Challenged More Often After Recent Texas Appellate Decision
A recent appellate decision out of the Beaumont Court of Appeals may throw a new wrinkle into Texas’s ever-evolving law on physician noncompetition agreements.
In Texas, physician noncompetition agreements must contain buyout provisions to be enforceable. That is, the physician must be allowed to buy his or her way out of the geographical and temporal restrictions the noncompetition agreement imposes.
Continue Reading Physician Noncompetition Agreements May Be Challenged More Often After Recent Texas Appellate Decision