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:
 
Cybersecurity Posts and Articles: 
  • Last week’s report from the privately-funded IP Commission has triggered a lot of commentary on the issue of China, cybersecurity, and the international misappropriation of trade secrets. The Economist has chimed in, “Fighting China’s hackers: Is it time to retaliate against cyber-thieves?,” The New York Times has offered an Op-Ed “Preventing a U.S.-China Cyberwar,” as has Gerry Smith for The Huffington Post, “‘Hacking Back’ Could Deter Chinese Cyberattacks, Report Says.” Lisa Kilday also has a post for The IP Watchdog, as does Sophie Yu for Orrick’s Trade Secrets Watch Blog.
  • For a contrarian view of the report and its authors, see TechDirt’s article, “Fear Mongering Report Suggests ‘IP Theft From China’ One Of The Biggest Problems America Faces.”
  • “A primer on the keys to a complete cybersecurity incident response plan: Inside counsel that understand cybersecurity become defenders of their companies,” advises Daniel Lim for Inside Counsel.
  • “Hackers Find China Is Land of Opportunity,” reports Edward Wong for The New York Times.
  • “FTC Fires Back In Cybersecurity Case,” reports Brent Kendall for The Wall Street Journal’s Law Blog.
  • “FTC Announces Information about Upcoming Mobile Security Forum,” advises Mike Nonanka for Covington’s Inside Privacy Blog.
  • Rob Radcliff provides his take on BYOD policies in his Smooth Transitions Blog.
  • “Employers Must Obtain Employee Consent For BYOD Programs,” recommends Yaron Dori and Jeff Kosseff of Covington & Burling LLP for Law360.
Trade Secrets and Non-Compete Cases, Posts and Articles
  • “Kolon Asks 4th Circ. To Ax $920M DuPont Trade Secrets Award” reports Law360.  In a summary of the oral arguments before the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, Scott Flaherty reports that Kolon focused on Judge Robert Payne’s denial of its motion to recuse himself because of his former firm’s involvement in a patent dispute for DuPont and on what Kolon believed was DuPont’s failure to provide proof on a trade secret by trade secret basis.
  • “Illinois Appellate Court Partially Reverses Broad Non-Compete Injunction Against Physicians,” reports Molly Joyce for Seyfarth Shaw’s Trading Secrets Blog.
  • “Customer Lists as Trade Secrets: What Protections Are Sufficient?” asks Eric Ostroff in his Protecting Trade Secrets Blog.
  • Brian Bialas suspects that the recent AMD v. Feldstein decision by the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts may have extended the inevitable disclosure doctrine in Massachusetts. In his post for Foley & Hoag’s Massachusetts Noncompete Law Blog, Brian notes the fact that Judge Hillman entered an injunction despite the defendants’ protestations that they had already turned over all confidential information to a third-party neutral after the lawsuit was commenced, reasoning that they, “must all remember large amounts of confidential AMD information that they learned during their employment.”  (For more on the decision, see my take here).
  • A case out of New York’s Fourth Appellate Department suggests that coupling a grant of stock options with a non-compete can be a messy affair if not done right, advises Jonathan Pollard in a recent post for the non-compete blog.
  • “Former Outback Steakhouse Employee Not Necessarily ‘Down Under’ For Allegedly Breaching Fiduciary Duty” advises Amy Dehnel for Berman Fink & Van Horn’s Georgia Non-Compete & Trade Secret News Blog.
  • In “Pennsylvania Appellate Court Orders Sanctions for Plaintiff’s Bad-Faith Trade Secret Misappropriation Claims,” Scott Schaeffers examines the recent Kraft v. Downey case for Seyfarth Shaw’s Trading Secrets Blog.
  • Rob Radcliff provides his take on BYOD policies in his Smooth Transistions Blog.
  • “Employers Must Obtain Employee Consent For BYOD Programs,” recommends Yaron Dori and Jeff Kosseff, Covington & Burling LLP for Law360.
  • “Chinese Trade Secret Theft Hits Universities,” reports Press Millen for Womble Carlyle’s Trade Secrets Blog.
  • “Non-Compete Agreements Aren’t for Everyone: The Necessity of Proving a ‘Legitimate Business Interest,’” advises Betsy Lensan Cook of Womble Carlyle for National Law Review.
  • “Exercise Gym Instructor Enjoined By Non-Compete Agreement,” reports David Poppick for Epstein Becker’s Trade Secrets & Noncompete Blog.
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act Posts and Cases:
  • “Password Sharing and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, Revisited,” considers Kenneth Vanko in his Legal Developments in Non-Competition Agreements Blog.

Kenneth Vanko, Russell Beck and I have completed our ninth Fairly Competing Podcast, “The Conviction of David Nosal Under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.” 

In Episode 9, Russell, Ken and I discuss Nosal’s conviction under the remaining Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) counts that survived the Ninth Circuit’s en banc decision in 2012. In particular, we debate whether the government’s theory of unauthorized access via password sharing falls within the terms of the CFAA. We also predict how the Ninth Circuit may rule after Nosal appeals his conviction.

You can listen to the podcast by going to the Fairly Competing website or clicking the link below. Or you can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes. (As always, we’d appreciate your feedback).

For more on the Nosal case, see our previous posts here, here and here.

Listen to this episode.

05242013A blue-ribbon panel issued a report on Wednesday focusing on trade secret theft by China and urging a number of executive and legislative reforms, including enactment of a federal trade secrets statute and providing American companies with some limited right to “hack back” against those that launch cyberattacks against them.  The report has already generated a fair amount of media coverage and is sure to spark further debate on what to do about international trade secret theft and cyberattacks (for more on the report, see this Op-Ed piece in The Washington Post, as well as these articles in Forbes, the BBC and PCWorld). 

The Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property by The National Bureau of Asian Research (that’s a mouthful) assembled the report.  The panel that authored the report includes high profile figures such as the former Ambassador to China (Jon M. Huntsman, Jr.), the former Chairman and CEO of Intel Corporation (Craig R. Barrett), the former Director of National Intelligence and Commander in Chief of the U.S. Pacific Command (Retired Admiral Dennis C. Blair), and former U.S. Senator Slade Gorton from Washington state.

The Reasons for the Report:  For those that have been following these issues, the report relies on many of the statistics and developments that are by now considered to be conventional wisdom or accepted as true:  $300 billion estimated annual losses due to foreign trade secret and cybertheft, drag on U.S. GDP growth, American job losses, and corrosion of the incentives to innovate, among others.

However, unlike other reports and commissions, this one unambiguously singles out China “as the world’s largest source of IP theft” and quotes estimates that “China’s share of international IP theft” is “roughly 70%.”  In this respect, the Commission differs substantially from other high profile reports — most notably, the Obama Administration’s Trade Secrets Initiative launched last February, which elected not to single out China (although that initiative did detail incident after incident of theft involving a China connection).

The report also addresses what it believes to be the root causes of this serious international problem, as well as the role of the Chinese government in allowing or promoting it.  It posits that “much of this theft stems from the undirected, uncoordinated actions of Chinese citizens and entities who see within a permissive domestic legal environment an opportunity to advance with their own commercial interests.  With rare penalties for offenders and large profits to be gained, Chinese businesses thrive on stolen technology.”  However, the report does note that role of the Chinese government in some of these efforts, citing the recent Verizon risk report that found that “‘state-affiliated actors’ accounted for 19% of the 621 successful ‘breaches’ in the 47,000 attacks reported.”

The Commission’s Notable Recommendations:  A number of short-term solutions are advocated to reorganize and finetune the federal executive branch’s focus and responsibility.  However, it is the “medium-term solutions” proposal that I thought was the most noteworthy, which is the section that advocates for legislative and legal reforms.

In my view, the most important legislative reform proposed in the report is the very first one — the call for an amendment to the Economic Espionage Act (EEA) to provide for a private right of action to allow companies and businesses to sue for the theft of their trade secrets (readers of this blog already know that I have supported this effort).  The report does not advocate a particular bill (such as the pending Protecting American Trade Secrets and Innovation Act) or particular remedy.  Rather, the report focuses on the practical reasons that require that legislation:  over-burdened federal prosecutors who lack the resources to pursue these actions under the EEA and the jurisdictional and evidentiary limitations of state court actions that may frustrate the ability of companies to protect their trade secrets overseas.

The Commission also recommends that the EEA be amended so that the Federal Circuit would serve as the Federal Court of Appeals for all federal trade secret actions, “since it serves as the appellate court for nearly all IP-related cases and thus has a high degree of competency on IP issues.”  This is a good suggestion and would provide uniformity and clarity on any new statute as well as for future prosecutions under the EEA.

Finally, the Commission advocates two noteworthy but controversial cyber proposals.  It supports the present Cyber Intelligence Sharing Protection Act (CISPA) that has passed the House of Representatives but faces opposition within the Senate and by the Obama Administration on privacy grounds.

The Commission also supports giving American companies the right to a some limited form of a “hack back” against foreign cyberattacks (for a fine and brief analysis of this provision, see the recent post of Steptoe’s Stewart Baker for The Volokh Conspiracy).  This would likely require an amendment to the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), which as presently drafted, would expose American companies to civil claims or prosecution under the CFAA.  (For a debate on the merits of allowing a hack back amendment, see the exchange between Stewart Baker (in favor) and Professor Orin Kerr (against) in The Volokh Conspiracy).

For those with the time, I would recommend reading the report which has a host of other comprehensive proposals that should be strongly and seriously considered by the Administration and Congress.

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.

05192013In the course of preparing the Mid-Year Review for Trade Secrets law for the AIPLA’s Spring Meeting, I had an opportunity to step back and evaluate what is really going on from a legal standpoint in the burgeoning area of cybersecurity. And while cybersecurity is exploding from an IT and data management standpoint, the law remains in its infancy. Why is that? 

The Absence of Clear Cybersecurity Legal Standards: Gibson Dunn issued a white paper entitled “Cyber-security and Data Privacy Outlook and Review: 2013” in early May and I thought it would be a good resource as I prepared the “Cybersecurity Law” portion for my presentation (it proved to be, by the way, and I would recommend it as a resource). 

While the report was very comprehensive, what was revealing to me was the absence of any true over-arching cybersecurity law or standard. Rather, the report detailed developments in related statutes and areas — the Computer Fraud & Abuse Act, HIPAA, state and federal privacy statutes, the standards in class actions over data breaches, etc. — but it could not identify any defining rules or guidelines for what, if any, legal standards surrounding the security for data and information. That is because they don’t exist.

So the question arises, in a nation known for its ability to legislate over anything and everything, why is there no federal or state laws regarding cybersecurity, an issue that is so dominating the national and business dialogue? I think there are four primary reasons for the absence of that legal standard. 

First, the government cannot reach a consensus or does not fully understand the problem. Congress and the Obama Administration continue to bicker over what standards and carve outs for liability should be in place so that companies have the confidence to partner with the federal government to disclose cyber risks. The inability to trust anyone to properly manage or safeguard this information — public or private — compounds the problem. Some might argue that this is a good thing, that the less of a role that the government has, the better; however, once the financial consequences of these breaches become apparent, the need for some legal standard will arise.

Second, this is really a phenomena that emerged in the public eye last year. There is always a natural lag between the emergence of a problem and the ability to meaningfully evaluate that problem and arrive at a satisfactory compromise that can be reflected in legislation or judicial opinions.

Third, except in a few instances (to be discussed in my next post), the losses associated with a cyberbreach have not become apparent yet. Until a plaintiff can come forward with concrete proof of tangible loss against a defendant against whom recovery is likely, the perceived need for a cybersecurity standard will not be an urgent one worthy of judicial or legislative attention.

Finally, development of a standard is complicated by the fact that cybersecurity is inherently an issue of technology and highly involved technology at that. Very few of us fully understand the intricacies involved in transmitting, storing and securing information, particularly as those processes evolve so quickly. And frankly the IT community has contributed to the confusion by failing (or perhaps even refusing) to adopt and communicate in a vernacular more accessible to the public at large.  

So Where are We Headed?  In my next post, I will discuss recent efforts by the federal government to impose standards in this vacuum as well as those few legal cases that have begun to emerge in this area.

Kenneth Vanko, Russell Beck and I have completed our eighth Fairly Competing Podcast, “Has the Time Come for a Federal Trade Secrets Statute?” 

In Episode 8, Russell, Ken and I discuss the need for a federal statute for civil claims of trade secret theft.  The Fairly Competing team discusses the proposed Protecting American Trade Secrets and Innovation Act (PATSIA), which would amend the Economic Espionage Act to allow private parties to sue for the theft of their trade secrets.  We also talk about whether the proposed statute should be modified and confined to instances of international trade secret misappropriation and whether the ex parte seizure order under the statute should exist in its present form.

You can listen to the podcast by going to the Fairly Competing website or clicking the link below. Or you can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.  (As always, we’d appreciate your feedback).

If you are looking for more on the proposed federal legislation, see our posts here, here, here and here.

Our next podcast will address the recent conviction of David Nosal, the former Korn/Ferry International executive, under the Computer Fraud & Abuse Act.

Listen to the episode here.

In an important decision issued on Wednesday, a Massachusetts federal court has found that the absence of proof of actual use of the trade secrets was not fatal to claims brought by Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) against four of its former employees.  In AMD, Inc. v. Feldstein, Judge Timothy S. Hillman found that evidence that several of the employees downloaded and transferred significant data, coupled with other facts, was sufficient circumstantial evidence of misappropriation to justify an injunction.  (A PDF of the court’s decision can be found below).

This decision cuts against other recent cases holding that a trade secret claimant must come forward with evidence of actual misappropriation to make its claim.  I have detailed the forensic analysis below, because it was critical in making the circumstantial case that trade secrets were taken and likely being used, and rendered the versions presented by the employees implausible.

Background:  AMD brought this case in January 2013 against former employees Robert Feldstein, Manoo Desai, Nicolas Kociuk and Richard Hagan, each of whom had each left AMD to join a competitor, Nvidia.  AMD secured a temporary restraining on the strength of non-disclosure and non-solicitation clauses in the employees’ Business Protection Agreements that they had signed as a condition of employment with AMD and had moved for a preliminary injunction formalizing that TRO.

Feldstein, the most senior of the employees, was the first to leave and just before resigning in July 2012, he took a sabbatical during which time 8,148 files were copied from AMD’s intranet via Feldstein’s AMD-issued laptop.  The files included a Gmail contacts file, a Microsoft Outlook inbox file and several business-strategy-related documents.  He also downloaded a Technology Licensing Overview PowerPoint presentation that he later conceded was “problematic.”

Desai, a Senior Manager, joined Nvidia in December 2012 and forensic analysis showed that 7,899 documents were transferred from her AMD-issued laptop to a folder located on the external hard drive.  The night before she left AMD, her husband downloaded all of these files at her request because she wanted to preserve “her personal files, including family photos, personal emails and tax information” and she claimed that she “instructed him not to take any confidential AMD information.”  Desai accessed this information on her Nvidia-issued laptop later, but claimed she was searching for personal information.  She obviously never returned the information.

Kociuk reported to Desai and was part of her integration team.  Forensic analysis revealed that his user account was used to assist Desai in copying or transferring very large file systems for subsequent use (he said this was done only to help her erase her personal data from AMD).  He admitted he used a utility application, Robocopy, to create duplicate images of the entire file structure of his two AMD-issued computers.  More than — wait, let me lift my pinkie to my lips — one million files were copied onto a pair of external hard drives.  Kociuk claimed that he did this to preserve copies of personal information and data.  He left to join Nvidia on January 11, 2012, the event that triggered the lawsuit and TRO.  After downloading the files, Kociuk signed an acknowledgement that he was not retaining any of AMD’s confidential information.

In addition, AMD presented evidence of some solicitation of then-current AMD employees by Feldstein, Desai and Hagan.  None would admit that the conversations were actual solicitations but it appeared from emails and text messages that some informal solicitation may have taken place.

The District Court’s Reasoning:  Judge Hillman addressed the split in authority in Massachusetts over whether acquisition of trade secrets by improper means is sufficient to establish misappropriation or whether, alternatively, a plaintiff is required to prove actual use above and beyond acquisition by improper means.  He did not address the pros and cons of each line of cases, but instead, he simply elected to go with the line of cases permitting acquisition by improper means. 

Judge Hillman recounted the forensic evidence outlined above and found that it was “compelling.”  He noted that all of the former employees made copies of confidential information of AMD, retained that information, and immediately began working for significant competitor.  He noted that Feldstein in particular had access to extremely sensitive business strategy and licensing agreement information which he acknowledged was “problematic.”

This circumstantial evidence, in the court’s view, destroyed the credibility of the alternative explanations offered by the employees as well as their other testimony that they did not intend to misappropriate the trade secrets or that they could not possibly use that knowledge to benefit Nvidia in their current position.

The Takeaways:  From the employee side, what were these people thinking?  Kociuk’s decision to copy one million files destroyed the believability of the employees’ protestations of misappropriation.  The strength of the forensic evidence also spilled over into the issue of whether improper solicitations occurred, because the ambiguous signals and communications at issue there suddenly took on more sinister overtones against the backdrop of the massive downloading of these and other files.

On the employer’s side, forensic evidence saved the day here and was used to build a compelling story.  Although there was no evidence of actual use of the trade secrets, the sheer amount of data transferred, the suspicious timing of the downloading and the timing of the employees’ departures to the same competitor led the court to conclude that these employees were likely already using or likely to use these trade secrets in the future. 

As I noted at the outset, several courts have recently required parties to come forward with actual proof of misappropriation (a decision out of Georgia imposing this standard can be found here).  This new standard, in my view, is incorrect and difficult, if not impossible, to meet.  Evidence of the proverbial “smoking gun” rarely exists and it is unrealistic to expect a tortfeasor to fall to his or her knees and admit “I did it!”  To the contrary, in the crucible of litigation, one can reasonably expect the tortfeasor’s story to harden now that he or she is confronted with tne consequences of his/her actions.  Trade secret claims, like claims for fraud or unfair competition, are inherently based upon some degree of deceit and as a result, by their very nature, often can only be proven by circumstantial evidence.

Judge Hillman did not identify the particulars of the injunctive relief he was going to enter in the case, so I will keep you updated when he ultimately does issue that injunction.

AMD v Feldstein et al _Opinion .pdf (135.06 kb)

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:
  • Bloomberg has received withering criticism for allowing the presumably confidential information of its customers to be viewed (and most likely used) by its reporters. Last week, Bloomberg said it had now restricted its journalists from accessing information about terminal subscribers, including when they last logged on, when they subscribed and how often they accessed features like news or the chat function. CNBC, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal all have comprehensive articles on the scandal. Bloomberg’s troubles underscore the challenges of maintaining ethical screens and walls between business units who have potentially divergent interests over confidential information. 
  • “Credit Suisse says ex VP stole trade secrets in move to Goldman,” reports Reuters. 
  • “5th Circ. Affirms $44M Wellogix Jury Award In Trade Secret Spat,” reports Law360.
  • “Trade Secret ‘Watch List’: Bill Would Establish Monitoring List of Countries Engaging in Cybertheft, and Make U.S. Intelligence Czar the Point Person,” reports Robert Isaackson for Orrick’s Trade Secrets Watch.
  • “New Massachusetts Superior Court Noncompete Decision Discusses the ‘Material Change’ Defense and Shows the Benefit to Employers of Having a ‘Material Change’ Clause in Noncompete Agreements,” advises Brian Bialas for Foley & Hoag’s Massachusetts Noncompete Law Blog.
  • Josh Durham reports on the latest non-compete involving a doctor, “NC Court of Appeals Orders Injunction In OB-GYN Covenant Not To Compete Case,” for Poyner Spruill’s Under Lock & Key Blog.
  • And while we are talking about physician non-competes, the recent $39 million “Tuomey verdict could make hospitals more cautious in doctor contracts,” advises Adam Kerlin for Reuters.
  • “Florida Court Discusses Trade Secrets in Discovery,” reports Solomon Genet for the Trade Secrets Law Blog.
  • “Show Me the Money – Injunctions are Not Cheap,” warns Rob Radcliff in his Smooth Transitions Blog.
  • “You Can’t Reverse Blue-Pencil a Non-Compete,” advises Kenneth Vanko in his Legal Developments in Non-Competition Agreements Blog.
  • “Trade Secrets Law Still Murky in Georgia Courts,” reports Alyson Palmer for Corporate Counsel.
  • Fracking and trade secrets remain a combustible combination, as Law 360 reports that, “Enviros Must Show Need To Get Trade Secret Docs: Pa. Court.”
  • For an excellent summary of the key points of the new Texas Uniform Trade Secrets Act, see, “Texas Trade Secrets Law Gets Business-Friendly Upgrade,” by Jesse Davis for Law360.
  • A recent study finds that over 90% of innovative products are never patented, reports Eric Ostroff in a recent post for his Trade Secrets Law Blog. According to Eric, the study looked at the “R&D 100 Awards” to reach its conclusions. The results of this study of course reinforce the importance of making sure your trade secret protections are adequate.
  • Attention eBay shoppers: “Coca Cola’s secret formula for sale for 15 million dollars,” reports DailyBhaskar.com
Cybersecurity Posts and Articles:
  • The theft of nearly $45 billion was from New York banks by cyberthieves was widely reported in the past week. For an analysis of the legal fallout, see, “Lessons From the New York ATM Heist,” by Jason Weinsten for Steptoe’s Cyberblog.
  • “Legal Showdown on Cybersecurity: Hotelier Wyndham Challenges FTC’s Authority to Police Corporate Data Practices,” reports The Wall Street Journal.
  • “Cyberattacks Against U.S. Corporations Are on the Rise,” reports The New York Times.
  • “‘Bring Your Own Device’ is Evolving from a Trend to a Requirement,” advises Arik Hesseldahl for All Things Digital. 
  • “Hacking back: Digital revenge is sweet but risky,” advises Melissa Riofrio for PCWorld.  
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act Posts and Cases:
  • “No Damages? Illinois Federal Court Tosses Computer Fraud and Abuse Act Claim Alleging Hacking of Law Firm Network,” reports Paul Freehling for Seyfarth Shaw’s Trading Secrets Blog.
  • “Should Lying About Your Age Online Be a Federal Crime?” asks Peter Torren in an article for Corporate Counsel.

Kenneth Vanko, Russell Beck and I have completed our seventh Fairly Competing Podcast, “Trade Secrets, Whistleblowers and The First Amendment.” 

In Episode 7, the Fairly Competing Team discusses the unique problems posed by trade secrets suits against so-called whistleblowers and assesses the realities of litigation involving whistleblowers, First Amendment concerns, and state SLAPP laws that may come into play in whistleblower litigation. We also talk about a recent case involving Anheuser-Busch where trade secrets law intersects with an alleged whistleblower’s claim of First Amendment protection.

You can listen to the podcast by visiting the Fairly Competing website, clicking the link below, or subscribing to the podcast on iTunes. (We’d appreciate your feedback).

If you are looking for more on this topic (one that is near and dear to my heart), please see my earlier posts here, here and here.

Our next podcast will address our respective thoughts about recent efforts to enact a federal trade secrets statute, including the proposed Protecting American Trade Secrets and Innovation Act.

Listen to this Episode.

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: Cybersecurity Posts and Articles:
  • Well, it’s official: “U.S. Blames China’s Military Directly for Cyberattacks,” reports The New York Times. Also see “PENTAGON: Chinese Hackers Have Stolen Data From ‘Almost Every Major U.S. Defense Contractor,'” asserts The Business Insider, “Pentagon report says U.S. computer hacking ‘appears to be attributable’ to Chinese government,” reports The Verge and “U.S. Says China’s Government, Military Used Cyberespionage,” reports The Wall Street Journal.
  • “A cybersecurity primer for legal departments: Understanding the basic terms and concepts needed to protect your company from cyber attacks” by David Lim for Inside Counsel.
Trade Secret and Non-Compete Posts and Articles:
  • Less than two months after its introduction, Texas has adopted the Uniform Trade Secrets Act effective Sept. 1, 2013, reports Orrick’s Trade Secrets Watch Blog. It appears that the version adopted is similar to that proposed by Dallas State Senator John Carona and will include a presumption in favor of granting protective orders to protect trade secrets in litigation, including limiting access to confidential information to attorneys and their experts. (For more on the proposed statute, see my post earlier this year as well as Robert Milligan’s recent post).
  • Connecticut is joining the list of states tinkering with their non-compete laws, advises Daniel Schwartz in his Connecticut Employment Law Blog.  In “Bill Targets Non-Compete Agreements But Would Also Create New Cause of Action,” Daniel reports that the bill allows “reasonable” non-competes but would permit an aggrieved employee the right to sue if the non-compete was unreasonable or the employee was not provided with at least 10 days to consider the non-compete before signing it.
  • “Chinese Couple Sentenced to 3 Years and 1 Year for Theft of GM Hybrid Technology,” advises Todd Sullivan in his Trade Secrets Blog.
  • And in another prosecution, “Ex-Frontier Chemist Dodges Prison For Disclosing Recipes,” as Law360 reports that the U.S. District Court for Utah sentenced Prabhu Prasad Mohapatra to time served — three days — and ordered him to pay $3,435 in restitution.
  • “Georgia Supreme Court Rejects Independent Claim for Inevitable Disclosure of Trade Secrets,” reports Eric Ostroff in his Trade Secrets Law Blog.  Kenneth Vanko has a post on the case as well in his Legal Developoments in Non-Competition Agreements Blog.
  • Eric Ostroff also has a fine post entitled “Five Ways to Protect Trade Secrets When an Employee Departs.”  If you have not bookmarked Eric’s blog, you should as he is churning out very good content regularly.
  • Those in Pennsylvania should be aware of a decision out of the U.S. Eastern District of Pennsylvania reports the Employee Discrimination Reporter. In De Lage Landen v. Thomasian, the District Court refused to enforce a non-compete despite proof that the former employee had breached a non-solicitation provision by approaching a former colleague. The court reasoned that the parties were not sufficient competitors, there was no showing of future harm, money damages were available, and therefore no irreparable harm was present.
  • “Fracking and Trade Secrets: An Introduction,” advises Kenneth Vanko in his Legal Developoments in Non-Competition Agreements Blog.
  • “Fisher/Unitech (Basically) Loses Non-Compete Fight Against Former Sales Exec,” advises Jonathan Pollard for the non-compete blog.
  • “Doctor Non-Solicitation Agreement Not Supported By Legitimate Business Interest,” reports Zach Jackson for Epstein Becker’s Trade Secrets & Noncompete Blog.
  • “Employers Slow To Guard Data Amid Social Media, Tech Boom,” bemoans Erin Coe for Law360.
  • “Data Security Policies and Procedures Still Lacking,” warns Catherine Dunn for Corporate Counsel.
  • In “Unleashing job hoppers could give economy a bounce,” Reynolds Holdings posits in an article for Reuters that releasing unemployed workers from their non-competes might help the economy.
  • “China Non-Competes. The Basics Have Become Clearer,” advises Dan Harris in his China Law Blog.
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act Posts and Cases:
  • “California Federal Court Dismisses Computer Fraud and State Unfair Competition Claims Alleged Against Ex-Employees Accused Of Stealing Computer Source Code,” reports Paul Freehling for Seyfarth Shaw’s Trading Secrets Blog.
  • “Programmer Arrested For Cyberattack On Ex-Employer,” reports Law360.
  • “Use a Software Bug to Win Video Poker? That’s a Federal Hacking Case,” proclaims Kevin Paulson for Wired.
  • “Who’s at Fault for the CFAA Mess? Blame Congress,” sighs Brian Bialas for Foley & Hoag’s Massachusetts Noncompete Law Blog. Sounds good to me.