Insights on Trade Secrets, Noncompetes & Employee Mobility

Arent Fox LLP’s Trademark practice has been recognized as one of the best in the country by World Trademark Review.

Whether it is proprietary information regarding customers, pricing, sourcing, product design, or manufacturing methods, trade secrets provide a competitive edge in the market by virtue of the fact that it is not generally known.

Partner Peter Zeidenberg’s latest client was featured by The New York Times after federal prosecutors in Philadelphia announced the indictment of five people, including two research scientists, on charges of stealing trade secrets for cancer treatment drugs from the British drug giant GlaxoSmithKlin

In this video episode of Fashion Counsel, Arent Fox Partners Anthony Lupo and Dana Finberg talk about trade secret basics, including how they differ from patents and how to define it in the eyes of the law.

Jawbone and Fitbit, both billion-dollar leaders in the “wearable” technology category of fitness bands, are warming up for what may become a test of legal endurance.

In an unpublished opinion filed on May 8, 2015, the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit sent trade secret owners a strong reminder of the important role written confidentiality agreements play in protecting valuable intellectual property.

On April 16, 2015, the Virginia Supreme Court threw out a contempt citation against social media company Yelp, Inc. (Yelp) in a closely watched case involving anonymous free speech rights on the internet.

On January 16, 2015, Sens. Jerry Moran (R-KS) and Mark Warner (D-VA) introduced S. 181 (The Startup Act), which is meant to promote new business formation, especially in the information technology industry.

On August 18, 2014, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued an opinion sending website owners a clear warning that the onus is on them to put users on notice of the terms of use to which they wish to bind consumers.

In a decision filed on May 8, 2014, the California Court of Appeals held that patentable ideas, if kept secret, can constitute information protectable by trade secret law.

Bottega Veneta, one of the world’s premier fashion companies, recently won an important ruling regarding the scope of its trade dress rights at the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board of the US Patent and Trademark Office.