05022013Here 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:

  • Good advice from Josh Durham: “Use Covenants Not To Compete To Protect Legitimate Business Interests, Not Just Because You’re Scared Of A Little Competition.” In his post for Poyner Spruill’s Under Lock & Key Blog, Josh recounts the holding of a recent North Carolina case, Phelps Staffing LLC v. CT Phelps, Inc., in which the court found that a non-compete involving temporary staffing employeees lacked a legitimate business interest to justify the restraint. It is an important reminder to companies to ensure that their non-competes be narrowly tailored to protect interests that actually arise from the former employee’s employment.
  • Sergey Aleynikov will stand trial a second time, this time in New York State’s Supreme Court, for the alleged theft of Goldman Sachs’ trade secrets, reports The Wall Street Journal and Law360. Judge Ronald Zweibel ruled that the state charges were not barred by the dismissal of his federal conviction under the Economic Espionage Act last year by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. (For more on the Aleynikov saga, see my posts here and here).
  • For more on the Ohio Supreme Court’s recent holding that rental payments are trade secret, see Todd Sullivan’s take in his Trade Secrets Blog. Todd notes the incongruity in the Court’s reasoning that disclosure of the trade secrets would lead to a “poisonous” tenant environment, despite the fact that it noted later in its opinion that the landlord’s expert said tenants were incentivized not to share rental information. (My post on the case can be found here).
  • “Pushing Back Against Restrictive Covenants in Physician Agreements” advocates Mark Gisler as he questions whether non-competes violate the American Medical Association’s code of ethics.
  • “Illinois Federal Court Issues Preliminary Injunction Prohibiting Use Of Misappropriated Trade Secrets But Rejects Request For Expanded Injunction Based On Alleged “Inevitable Disclosure” reports Paul Frehling for Seyfarth Shaw’s Trading Secrets Blog.
  • “Florida Court Reverses Preliminary Injunction on Restrictive Covenant,” reports Peter Vilmos for Burr & Forman’s Non-Compete Trade Secrets Law Blog.  Eric Ostroff also has a post on the case in his Trade Secrets Law Blog.
  • “When a Restriction on Soliciting “Prospective” Customers Is Unreasonable (and How to Fix It),” recommends Kenneth Vanko in his Legal Developments in Non-Competition Agreements Blog.
  • “Never Bring a Knife to a Gun Fight: One Simple Weapon to Fight Economic Espionage in a Cyberspace World,” warns Hayden J. Silver III for Womble Carlyle for The Compass.
  • “Why intellectual property theft is everyone’s problem,” remind Texas U.S. Attorneys Sarah Saldana and John M. Bales for The Dallas Morning News.
  • “Does social media change the meaning of “solicitation”? How to prevent ex-employees from using social networks to lure employees or customers” recommends Jon Hyman for Inside Counsel. 
  • “Why Abuse of Discretion Matters to Employers (Non-Compete),” advises Rob Radcliff for his Smooth Transitions Blog.
  • “Trade Secret “Inevitable Disclosure” Doctrine Taking Shape in North Carolina,” advises Betsy Cook Lanzen of Womble Carlyle for The National Law Journal.

Cybersecurity Posts and Articles:

  • “Reflections On Recent Cybersecurity Developments,” ponder David N. Fagan, John K. Veroneau, Robert Nichols and Kristen E. Eichensehr of Covington & Burling LLP for Law360.
  • “The War On Cybercrime: How Far Can You Go?” posits Gabriel Ramsey, Mark Mermelstein and James Hsaio of Orrick for Corporate Counsel.
  • “Is the Specter of a Cyber Cold War Real?” asks James McGregor for The Atlantic.
  • “Law firm fell victim to phishing scam, precipitating $336K overseas wire transfer, bank suit alleges,” reports Debra Cassens Weis for The ABA Journal’s Law News Now.
  • “Looking at the Future of Cybersecurity,” predicts Sue Reisinger for Corporate Counsel.

Computer Fraud and Abuse Act Posts and Cases:

  • Looking for a post-mortem on the recent CFAA trial of David Nosal? Then check out “In Executive’s Trade Secret Prosecution, a Company’s Outsized Role,” by Vanessa Blum who covered the trial for The Recorder, Venkat Balasubrumani’s post in the Technology & Marketing Law Blog and Daniel Joshua Salinas’ post for Seyfarth Shaw’s Trading Secrets Blog.
  • Earlier this week, The Washington Post ran a front-page story, “As cyberthreats mount, hacker’s conviction underscores criticism of government overreach,” detailing the prosecution of hacker Andrew Auernheimer.
  • Similarly, The ABA Journal has drawn attention to efforts to reform the CFAA, in an article “Hacker’s Hell: Many want to narrow the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act,” by Stephanie Francis Ward.