Here are the noteworthy trade secret, non-compete and cybersecurity stories from the past week, as well as one or two that I missed over the past couple of weeks: Trade Secret and Non-Compete Posts and Articles:
  • “Always be the good guy.” That is the title of an excellent post by Brian Bialas for Foley & Hoag’s Massachusetts Noncompete Law Blog that should serve as an important reminder to lawyers that in injunctive proceedings, which are so dependent on the exercise of equity, that your client (employer or employee) have the moral high ground.
  • “House Dems Push For China Trade Secret Theft Designation” reports Law360.  Congressmen Sander Levin ( D-Mich.) and Charles Rangel, (D-N.Y.) asked acting U.S.Trade Representative (USTR) Demetrios Marantis  to consider designating China as a “priority foreign country” under Section 182 of the Trade Act of 1974.  According to Law360, the law requires the USTR to identify countries that have inadequate protection of intellectual property rights, and those with the most egregious IP protection records can be targeted as priority. Once the USTR designates a priority foreign country, the trade agency is required under Section 301 of the act to complete an investigation, the results of which may lead to President Obama imposing import duties or taking other action. The Congressmen said that, “as evidence mounts” that the Chinese government is engaging in cybertheft, China may deserve the special designation.
  • Liu Sixing was sentenced to five years by a New Jersey federal judge for stealing defense trade secrets from L-3 Communications, reports the BBC. The trade secrets included information on U.S. missile, rocket and drone technology.
  • New blogger Erik Ostroff advises “Federal Circuit Addresses Uniform Trade Secrets Act Discovery Rule” in his Trade Secrets Law Blog.
  • “Worker stole trade secrets to ‘lure away’ clients, tobacco company says” reports Ken Bradley for the Knowledge Effect Blog for Thomson-Reuters.
  • “Enviros Can’t Make Wyo. Reveal Halliburton Fracking Formula” advises Law360.
  • For those in New York, Neal Dlausnera and David Fisher ask “Are Restrictive Covenants Enforceable Against Employees Terminated Without Cause? ‘Hyde’ indicates the answer may be yes.” In their fine article for The New York Journal, Neal and David consider the recent case of Hyde v. KLS, which may have eroded New York’s longstanding ban on non-competes against terminated employees. (For more on the Hyde case, see my post last year).
  • “Protecting Company Information When Employees Bail: California Alternatives to Employee Non-Compete Agreements” advise Robert Milligan and Jessica Mendelson for Seyfarth Shaw’s Trading Secrets Blog.
  • “Plaintiffs’ Attorneys, Rest Easy: Cease and Desist Letters Likely Aren’t Defamatory,” reports Kenneth Vanko in his Legal Developments in Non-Competition Agreements Blog.
  • “Litigating Theft of Trade Secrets before the International Trade Commission,” details Peter Toren.
  • “7 Steps to Enhance Post-Employment Restrictive Covenants,” reports Jeffrey Boxer for Corporate Counsel.
  • At last, something they can agree on: the latest on “Apple Inc. (AAPL), Samsung And Their Trade Secrets,” and their appeal to the Federal Circuit reports Michelle Jones for ValueWalk.
  • “The non-compete that didn’t happen,” advises Rob Radcliff for his Smooth Transitions Blog.
Cybersecurity Posts and Articles:
  • “New U.S. law says government agencies will need OK before buying Chinese IT equipment” reports Danielle Walker for SC Magazine.
  • “How to Avoid Getting Duped By A Hacker,” advises The Wall Street Journal’s Digits Technology Blog.
  • “The Question of ‘International Law of Cyberwar,” posits Stewart Baker for Steptoe’s Cyberblog.
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act Posts and Cases:
  • “The Computer Fraud and Abuse Statute is a Failed Experiment,” laments Eric Goldman in a guest post for Forbes.
  • “Another Court Construes the CFAA Narrowly and More of My Thoughts on the Statute,” ponders Kenneth Vanko in his Legal Developments in Non-Competition Agreements Blog. Ravindra Shaw provides her take on the same case out of New York, in her post for Jackson Lewis’ Non-Compete & Trade Secrets Report Blog.