For those of you attending the American Intellectual Property Law Association’s Annual Meeting from October 20-22 in Washington, D.C., I hope you will find time to attend a panel discussion in which I am participating on Thursday, October 20 at 3:30 p.m. The AIPLA’s Trade Secret Law Committee and Corporate Practices Committee are hosting the two-hour CLE panel discussion entitled, “Ten Things You Always Wanted to Tell Your Outside Counsel about Trade Secret Litigation and Vice Versa.” 

Daniel P. Westman of Morrison & Foerster, the Chairman of the Trade Secrets Committee, will moderate the discussion.  Joining Dan and me are Victoria Cundiff of Paul Hastings, Philip Petti of USG Corporation, Dewayne Hughes of Drager, and Warrington Parker of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe. The discussion will address a wide range of issues aimed at improving communications between inside and outside counsel, with topics addressing the preservation of electronic information, strategies for avoiding Qualcomm v. Broadcom problems, budget and cost controls, timely and realistic case evaluations, post-litigation advice about litigation avoidance, and managing potential contempt issues arising in connection with injunctions. 

After the panel discussion, the Trade Secret Committee will consider whether to (1) recommend Senator Kohl and Coons’ proposed amendment adding a civil cause of action to the Economic Espionage Act and (2) take a position on the Federal Circuit’s recent decision in TainRui Group v. International Trade Commission, Fed. Cir., Case No. 2010-1395 (Oct. 11, 2011), which recently found that a Section 337 violation based in part on acts of trade secret misappropriation occurring overseas. Both of these developments have been the subject of recent posts.