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:

  • A Pennsylvania Court of Appeals has rejected the two-prong test (objective test of speciousness and subjective test for bad faith) used by many federal courts for an award of attorneys fees for a bad faith trade secrets action under the Pennsylvania Uniform Trade Secrets Act reports Law360. In Kraft v. Downey, the Superior Court reversed a trial court’s dismissal of a claim for attorneys fees by the defendants, even though the plaintiffs prevailed at trial on other claims. (A hat tip to Mark Grace for forwarding the opinion to me).
  • Ericsonn and Airvana have reached an agreement in principle to settle their trade secrets case, Bloomberg is reporting. Airvana had secured a preliminary injunction in New York Supreme Court that had threatened to disrupt a $3 billion opportunity with Sprint and had resulted in Airvana’s claim that Ericsonn had violated the injunction. For more on the case and injunction, see my March post here.
  • For the latest involving the prosecution of Walter Liew for the alleged theft of DuPont’s titanium dioxide trade secrets, see “Feds Say Execs Can’t Ax DuPont Trade Secrets Charges,” as reported by Law360.
  • “Using Computer Forensics to Investigate IP Theft,” advise Sid Venkatasen and Elizabeth McBride for Law Technology News.
  • “Kentucky Court Finds No Insurance Coverage for Trade-Secrets Claim,” reports Eric Ostroff in his Trade Secrets Law Blog.
  • “Massachusetts Federal Court Takes Jurisdiction Over ‘One-Man’ Georgia Corporation Whose Agent Allegedly Stole Trade Secrets in Massachusetts,” reports Brian Bialas for Foley & Hoag’s Massachusetts Noncompete Law Blog.
  • “Recapping the Latest Blue Belt Tech. Non-Compete Dispute (This Time vs. Stryker),” summarizes Jonathan Pollard for the non-compete blog.
  • “Act On Clarifying Ownership of Work-Related Social Media Accounts Before You Become ‘Dinner,'” recommends Daniel Schwartz in his Connecticut Employment Law Blog.
  • If you are into podcasts, check out, “The Administration is Focused on Preventing Trade Secrets Misappropriation. Your Business Should Be, Too,” by Victoria Cundiff of Paul Hastings.
  • “Proposed Non-Compete Legislation in Connecticut Follows Legislative Trend” advises Kenneth Vanko in his Legal Developments in Non-Competition Blog.
  • If you are interested in more on the $44 million verdict in the Wellogix/Accenture dispute, check out “I Thought We Broke Up Years Ago! Why You Should “Throw Out” Trade Secrets As Soon As A Business Relationship Ends” by Matthew Kugazaki and Valerie Goo for Orrick’s Trade Secrets Watch and Eric Ostroff’s “A Cautionary Tale About Sharing Trade Secrets With Consultants — Fifth Circuit Affirms $44 Million Verdict.”

Cybersecurity Posts and Articles:

  • “California law would require breach notice if online account information is stolen,” reports Dan Kaplan for SC Magazine.
  • “Cyber Compliance: Hiring a Cybersecurity IT Firm for Rookies,” advises Christopher Matthews for The Wall Street Journal’s Risk & Compliance Reporter.
  • “Why CISPA is a global problem,” warns TechnoLlama.
  • “Data Breach – Your Organization Needs a Plan” recommends Nicole Reiman of Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP for JDSupra.
  • “Corporate Security’s Weak Link: Click-Happy CEOs: Top Bosses, Exempt From Companywide Rules, Are More Likely to Take Cyber-Attackers’ Bait,” reports The Wall Street Journal. For more on Spearphishing (or attacks geared towards senior executives better known as whaling, see my post here).
  • “GSA, DOD Solicit Advice On Revamping Cybersecurity,” advises Kathryn Brenzel for Law360.

Computer Fraud and Abuse Act Posts and Cases: 

  • “Applying Georgia Long-Arm Statute, Eleventh Circuit Finds No Personal Jurisdiction Based on Internet Activity” in a CFAA dispute, courtesy of Colin Freer for Berman Fink Van Horn’s Georgia Non-Compete and Trade Secret News Blog.