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:

  • “Can Business Relationships Be Trade Secrets? VA Federal Court Says No” advises Eric Ostroff in his Protecting Trade Secrets Blog. In Cablecom Tax Services v. Shenandoah Telecomms. Co., U.S. District Court Judge Michael Urbanski dismissed a tax consultant’s trade secrets claim against its telecommunications customers, reasoning that the consultant’s alleged relationships with tax authorities, a  tax-law “accounting system,” and its ability to negotiate property tax discounts did not qualify as protectable trade secrets under Virginia’s Uniform Trade Secrets Act. Scott A. Schaefers also has a post on this case for Seyfarth Shaw’s Trading Secrets Blog.
  • And while we are on the topic of trade secrets cases in Virginia, are you looking for a primer on the epic DuPont v. Kolon case? Then check out the superb post analyzing DuPont’s case by Eulonda Skyles and Michael Spillner for Orrick’s Trade Secrets Watch Blog.
  • Speaking of DuPont and Kolon, “Kolon Succeeds in Getting Its Trade Secret Theft Arraignment Postponed,” advises Todd Sullivan in Sullivan’s Trade Secrets Blog.
  • “Ex-Advanced Micro Workers Can’t Shake Trade Secrets Suit,” reports Law360 and Bloomberg. For more on the AMD trade secrets dispute, see my post from last month on the recent preliminary injunction restraining those same employees from misappropriating AMD’s trade secrets.
  • “Newscaster tripped up by Non-Compete,” reports Dan Frith for Frith & Ellerman’s Virginia Non-Compete Law Blog.
  • “It’s Not Just for Patents Anymore: Using the ITC to Combat Theft of Trade Secrets,” recommends Mark Memelstein and Misasha C. Suzuki for Orrick’s Trade Secrets Watch Blog.
  • “Hey, I Thought We Had An Agreement: California Appellate Court Allows Party To Seek Attorney’s Fees In Trade Secret Case,” exclaims Paul Henson in a guest post for Seyfarth Shaw’s Trading Secrets Blog.
  • Jason Cornell of Fox Rothschild has another post comparing different state’s non-compete laws, this time “A Comparison Of Illinois And Florida Law Governing Non-Compete Agreements,” for Mondaq.
  • “UK Supreme Court Rules on Case Involving Misuse of Trade Secrets by Former Employee,” reports Ezra Steinhardt for Covington’s Inside TechMedia Blog.
  • Jay Yurkiw of Porter Wright continues to churn out fine posts on e-discovery issues relevant to trade secret and non-compete disputes. For his latest, see “Court Relies on Proportionality to Deny Inspection of Defendant’s Computers, Cell Phones and Email Accounts” for Porter Wright’s Technology Law Source Blog.
  • “Deter Cyber Theft Act Would Augment Federal Policy Against Industrial Espionage,” advises Kenneth Vanko in his Legal Developments in Non-Competition Agreements Blog.
  • Interested in the interplay between “Liquidated Damages and Non-Competes”? Then check out Devin C. Dolive’s post for Burr & Forman’s Non-Compete Trade Secrets Law Blog. 

Cybersecurity Posts and Articles:

  • “Outside Law Firm Cybersecurity Under Scrutiny,” advises Catherine Dunn for Corporate Counsel.
  • “China’s Cyber Stonewall: Beijing won’t stop until it pays a price for its Internet thievery,” thunders The Wall Street Journal.
  • “How Vulnerable is Your Company to a Cyber Breach?” ask Clark Schweers and Jeffrey Hall for Corporate Counsel.
  • “What If China Hacks the NSA’s Massive Data Trove?” ponders Conor Freidersdorf for The Atlantic.
  • “Could Overreaction to Cybersecurity Threats Hurt Transparency at Home?” worries David S. Levine for Slate.

Computer Fraud and Abuse Act Posts and Cases:

  • In an initial skirmish that will inevitably lead to a lawsuit against the prosecutors in the Aaron Swartz CFAA case, “Judge Rejects Aaron Swartz’s Estate’s Request to Release Names of Individuals Involved in his Prosecution,” reports Hayes Hunt in the From the Sidebar Blog.