Wow, it was a busy week. 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:

  • Federal prosecutors were dealt a severe blow in the Economic Espionage Act case brought against affiliates of the Pangang Group (a company with ties to the Chinese government), as U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey White quashed summons against them in the U.S. v. Liew case.  As reported by Bloomberg and Law360, this is the second time that summons have been quashed and it increasingly appears that the government will not be able to serve, let alone prosecute, these companies for their alleged role in the theft of DuPont’s titanium dioxide trade secrets.
  • “New Jersey Legislators Propose Banning Non-Compete Agreements With Employees Who Can Claim Unemployment,” reports Jessica Mendelson for Seyfarth Shaw’s Trading Secrets Blog. Also see Law360’s article, “NJ Bill Targets Noncompete Restrictions On Unemployed.”
  • Honey, I stole the trade secrets!  “Can an Employee Use a Spouse to Circumvent Restrictive Covenants? Georgia Court of Appeals Says ‘No,'” advises Amy Dehnel for Berman Fink Van Horn’s Georgia Non-Compete and Trade Secret News.
  • “Merrill Lynch Says Ex-Advisers Stole Client Info,” reports Law360, when they joined competitor Wells Fargo.
  • “Wisconsin Researcher Accused of Economic Spying for China,” reports Bloomberg.
  • “Plaintiff’s Foreign Operations Result in ‘Lessened’ Deference to Choice of Home Forum in Trade Secret Misappropriation Case,” advises John C. Law, Ph.D. of McDermott Will & Emery for the National Law Review.
  • “Frisby-Eaton Whistleblower Settles with Frisby, Tolling Agreement Persists with Eaton,” advises Alison Grant for The Plain Dealer and Todd Sullivan for his Trade Secrets Blog.
  • “Get Smart About Noncompetes,” advises Alan Bush for The Texas Lawyer.
  • Don’t forget the importance of “Trade Secrets and Due Diligence,” a reminder by Eric Ostroff for his Trade Secrets Law Blog.
  • For a recent non-compete case out of Florida’s Fifth District Court of Appeal, see “A Court’s Order Must Comply With The Restrictive Covenant It Seeks To Enforce,” by Kain & Associates’ ComplexIP.com.
  • “Enforcing a Non-Compete Agreement in Florida: What Evidence is Relevant?” asks Jason Cornell for Fox Rothschild’s South Florida Trial Practice Blog.
  • “Non-competes: HR’s version of the Prenup,” proclaims Steve Boese for Fistful of Talent.
  • “5 Privacy and Data Security Measures That Can Protect Your Company Against Trade Secret Theft,” recommends Lindsey Tonsager for Covington’s Inside Privacy Blog.
  • Kenneth Vanko has the first of three posts on why certain non-compete and trade secrets cases may not settle for his Legal Developments in Non-Competition Agreements Blog.
  • And for the litigators, “Don’t Forget about E-Discovery When Moving to The Cloud,” advises Jay Yurkiw for Porter Wright’s Technology Law Source Blog.

Cybersecurity Posts and Articles:

  • As many of you may have noticed last week, The Wall Street Journal launched a Risk & Compliance Reporter that will cover, among other things, developments in cybersecurity.  It is worth bookmarking. To that end, here is one of the introductory posts, “Three Tactics for Cyber defense” by Mark G. Graff.
  • “How To Mitigate The IP Risks Of Data Breaches,” advises Carol Anne Been and Andy Blair of Dentons for Law360.
  • In an op-ed piece for The New York Times “Closing the Door on Hackers,” Marc Maifret, CTO for BeyondTrust wonders whether software companies are incentivized to allow hacking.
  • “Insider Theft: the Real Cyber Threat?” asks The Wall Street Journal’s Corruption Currents Blog.  The post quotes Mike Dubose of Kroll as estimating the average time between an internal breach and its discovery is 32 months.
  • “As more hackers target lawyers, here’s how to protect client data,” recommends Rachel Zahorsky for the ABA’s Techshow.
  • “U.S. Undersecretary to Discuss Hacking With Chinese Officials,” reports Bloomberg.
  • “Silicon Valley Fights Restrictions on Chinese Tech,” reports The Wall Street Journal.
  • “A Different Approach To Foiling Hackers? Let Them In, Then Lie To Them,” recommends Andy Greenberg for Forbes. (And don’t forget to at least buy them a drink).

Computer Fraud & Abuse Act Posts and Cases:

  • The trial in the prosecution of David Nosal is underway in San Francisco and expected to go about 12 days. Here are some of the articles covering it: “In High-Tech Hacking Trial, a Battle of Low-Tech Openings,” notes Max Taves, who is covering the Nosal trial, for The Recorder. Also check out Vanessa Blum’s article, “Amid Calls for Reform, a Rare Trial of Hacking Law,” also for The Recorder.
  • “Here are eight cyber crooks who got less prison time than Andrew Auernheimer,” advises Dan Kaplan for SC Magazine.
  • “NY Times Reporter Jenna Wortham Accidentally Reveals How She Violated Both The CFAA & The DMCA,” reports Techdirt.
  • “7th Circ. Won’t Resurrect Employer Email Hack Suit,” reports Law360, as the plaintiff was unable to demonstrate that the alleged invasion of privacy cost him more than $5,000.