Intellectual Property Law

Dion-Kindem & Crockett Announces U.S. District Court Orders Actress Kate Hudson Back to State Court to Answer Charges of Fraud and Misappropriation

Posted on December 10, 2008
BUSINESS WIRE According to the law firm of Dion-Kindem & Crockett, the U.S. District Court ordered today that Kate Hudson and David Babaii for WildAid LLC respond to 220 Laboratories' lawsuit as it was originally filed against them. The District Court rejected the defendants' argument that 220 Laboratories' claims are preempted by the Copyright Act; the lawsuit will be sent back to be heard by the Superior Court of the State of California...

China irks US with computer security review rules

Posted on December 09, 2008
By JOE McDONALD BEIJING (AP) -- The Chinese government is stirring trade tensions with Washington with a plan to require foreign computer security technology to be submitted for government approval, in a move that might require suppliers to disclose business secrets...

Secrecy, settlement and the public good

Posted on December 07, 2008
By Linda Stamato NJVoices Sealing settlements from public view is a court practice that limits accountability to the public, erodes public justice, and, undermines democracy. It raises grave public concerns. Alan Medvin, the lawyer who argued the case for Public Citizen, said he hopes the decision by the appeals court gives judges pause before ordering documents hidden from public view...

Tesla vs Fisker: The Epilogue (Or, Why Tesla Owes Fisker $1.1 Million)

Posted on December 06, 2008
By Carlos Lago Motortrend After Quantum and Fisker announced they had received proper funding in late October and would proceed with the Detroit Auto Show project, Tesla cancelled its contract under CEO Elon Musk's direction. On April 14, 2008, Tesla filed suit against Fisker, alleging fraud, breach of contract violation of the Uniform Trade Secrets Act, and unfair competition...

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Firms win victory on doctor gift rules

Posted on December 06, 2008
By Liz Kowalczyk The Boston Globe Consumer advocates have been pushing for rules that require companies to disclose the full nature of their relationships with physicians, but biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies have been lobbying the Department of Public Health, which wrote the regulations, to exempt the disclosure of payments to doctors for research and research-related activities, arguing that such public scrutiny would scare off companies from funding clinical trials in Massachusetts...

Texas company claims bad faith deal led to theft of trade secrets, patent infringement

Posted on December 04, 2008
By Marilyn Tennissen Light-sensor company Texas Advanced Optoelectronic Solutions has filed suit against Intersil Corp., alleging the California-based maker of semiconductors infringed a patent for digital ambient light sensors used in flat panel displays...

Mass. Court: Professional Liability Policy Excludes Document Theft

Posted on December 03, 2008
By Kenneth J. St. Onge Insurance Journal A document management company that allowed a client's sensitive documents to be taken is not covered by a professional liability policy with an intellectual property exclusion, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has ruled...

Ashbaugh's Trade Secrets LLC Tops Credentialed Performance Management Consultancies Nationwide

Posted on December 03, 2008
By Aria Munro PLANO, Texas -- Barb Ashbaugh is in the business of helping people and organizations reach their maximum potential, and Ashbaugh is a big believer in practicing what she preaches. Over the last 20 years, her Plano-based company, Ashbaugh's Trade Secrets LLC, has helped dozens of organizations from an array of industries including aeronautics, finance and health care, to increase efficiency, productivity, and profitability by using leading-edge evaluation and training to improve performance...

TAG Finance Society Examines Legal Priorities for High-Tech Organizations in Georgia

Posted on December 02, 2008
By Agenna Mathley Strict data protection and data privacy regulations, intellectual property protection and human resource practices are some of the key priorities today's high-tech executives must balance in managing their organization's legal priorities...

ANTITRUST AND TRADE SECRETS: THE U.S. AND THE EU APPROACH

Posted on December 01, 2008
Santa Clara Computer and High Technology Law Journal January, 2008 Katarzyna A. Czapracka This paper examines the divergent approaches to application of antitrust principles to trade secrets in the EU and in the U.S. The U.S. antitrust enforcers recognize the need to protect trade secrets and treat them as a type of intellectual property...

Offshoring to India: Are Your Trade Secrets and Confidential Information Adequately Protected?

Posted on November 30, 2008
By Sonia Baldia Despite recent growth in other emerging markets, India continues to be the number one destination for outsourcing services involving information technology and business processes ("IT/BPO services"). In recent years, moreover, a new model of global sourcing to India known as knowledge process offshoring or "KPO" has taken hold in addition to the remarkably successful Indian market for IT/BPO services, with India emerging again as the global KPO"hot spot...

Cover Story: 'Hammer' Time

Posted on November 30, 2008
By Linda Moss How One Consultant Extracts Cold Cash From Cable Ops In Retransmission-Consent Battle Lammers is a big player in the high-stakes battle between broadcasters and cable operators across the nation as, under federal law, thousands of retransmission-consent deals are set to expire Dec...

Lifetechniques sought damages for breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, tortuous interference with business relationships, misappropriation of trade secrets, conversion and civil theft.

Posted on November 30, 2008
In June 2005, plaintiff Lifetechniques Inc., a San Antonio business owned by Vesta Brue, entered into a three-year employment agreement with Karen West. West was hired to serve as president of the division MedSignals, wherein she would help develop and market the MedSignals product from an office in West Palm Beach...

Halligan's patent application claims a "programmed computer method" that operates to identify trade secret information.

Posted on November 30, 2008
From our friends at PeantentlyO BPAI: "Programmed Computer Method" Not Patentable Subject Matter Posted: 26 Nov 2008 04:31 AM CST Ex parte Halligan (BPAI 2008) Halligan's patent application claims a "programmed computer method" that operates to identify trade secret information...

ITALY: UNFAIR COMPETITION - VIOLATION OF KNOW-HOW AND TRADE SECRETS

Posted on November 30, 2008
European Intellectual Property Review Case Comment Federica Santonocito & Agata Sobol. Case: H v B (App (Turin)) Reports the Turin Court of Appeal decision in H v B on whether a judge erred in dismissing a patent infringement claim relating to machines used for sorting and packing products...

SRP has big plans, but keeps them secret

Posted on November 29, 2008
By Ryan Randazzo The Arizona Republic Salt River Project is working on something big - a coal or nuclear power plant, a large natural-gas plant, or maybe something else, but the ideas are secret. SRP's power panel was going to discuss the topic Tuesday during a public meeting, but kicked a reporter out of the room when the board members present decided to have their discussion in private, which is allowed if they were to discuss "trade secrets or privileged or confidential commercial or financial information," or things that give competitors an advantage...

Trials & Tribulations: Did carting firm salesman steal customers? - RecordOnline.com - The Times Herald Record

Posted on November 28, 2008
By Oliver Mackson Michael DiMase of Milford, Pa., quit his job two months ago, telling his boss at a local waste-carting company that he wasn't happy with his salary and that he wanted to leave the burgeoning New York City suburbs to "slow his life down" in western Pennsylvania...

Sanctions Upheld Against Lawyer for Informing Client About Trade Secrets

Posted on November 27, 2008
By: Evan Hill The Recorder IP attorney told client about confidential information that had wound up in public court file. Twelve years into a trade secrets dispute between an animal vaccine manufacturer and a former employee, lawyers for the manufacturer attempted to submit a document under seal that contained the purported secrets...

Insuring and Securing Your Network's Data

Posted on November 26, 2008
By Joshua Gold Top Tech News Developing a smart data security protocol will not eliminate the risk posed by unauthorized access to private or sensitive data, but it should at least reduce it. And when the data genie does escape the bottle, risk transfer in the form of insurance coverage can hopefully soften the financial blow...

Apple's new VP could cause 'irreparable harm' to IBM, says judge

Posted on November 25, 2008
By Gregg Keizer A federal judge ordered Apple Inc.'s newest executive to leave the company just five days after starting work because he might cause "irreparable harm" to his former employer, IBM, unsealed court documents show. In the opinion, Karas explained why he granted IBM's request for a preliminary injunction that blocked Papermaster from working for Apple, where he was to head iPod and iPhone hardware development...

Lubrizol Corp. worker gets prison for selling trade secrets to competitor

Posted on November 25, 2008
Peter Krouse Plain Dealer Reporter Kim to betrayed his employer and sold trade secrets to a competitor in South Korea, according to a presentencing report filed by Kim's attorney. The information Kim handed over to SK Chemicals included the formula for making Estane, Lubrizol's leading brand of thermoplastic polyurethane, which is processed into tubing, medical garments, athletic shoes and auto parts, among other things...

Two Silicon Valley Engineers Receive One Year Prison Sentences

Posted on November 24, 2008
By: Michael Barkoviak Daily Tech Ming Zhong, a permanent resident of the United States, and Fei Ye, a U.S. citizen, stole sensitive information from Sun Microsystems, Transmeta, NEC Electronics and Trident Microsystems in November 2001. The pair was arrested at the San Francisco International Airport after attempting to leave the country so they could launch a government-supported startup with the stolen computer chip designs...

Disagreement on economic impact of Depp film

Posted on November 23, 2008
By CARRIE ANTLFINGER | Associated Press Writer The movie is a screen adaptation of Bryan Burrough's 2004 book "Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34." It describes the FBI's transformation when confronted with crime sprees by bank robbers John Dillinger, Charles Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd and Lester "Baby Face Nelson" Gillis...

How to Avoid Getting Sued by a Former Employer

Posted on November 22, 2008
by Meridith Levinson Such underhanded business practices -- both the recruiting to obtain trade secrets and the knee-jerk litigation -- pose a threat to IT workers, whose specialized knowledge and skills remain in demand even during this economic downturn...

Don't Get A Patent? Plainly Ridiculous!

Posted on November 21, 2008
By: Gene Quinn IP Watchdog Trade secrets can provide protection, but only so long as the invention is secret and once you start distributing your invention the secret is lost. If you sell your invention or otherwise distribute your invention you have lost all trade secret rights that are associated with your invention because others will be able to see your invention, take it apart, learn about it and copy it if they want...

Shane Sutton mindful of trade secrets

Posted on November 20, 2008
By: Ron Reed Former Australian cyclist Shane Sutton was surprised to find himself answering the door to the legendary Manchester United soccer boss and his assistants two weeks ago. Sutton, credited as the driving force behind the British takeover of track cycling, agreed to share the secrets behind his squad's astonishing performance, which yielded nine Olympic and seven world championships this year...

Jury Verdict : Software Firm Stole Trade Secrets, Financial Group Alleged

Posted on November 20, 2008
In 2004, plaintiff Exchequer Financial Group contacted David J. Milazzo, a consultant, to seek his recommendation for a computer software firm to write software for a planned online raw foods business. Milazzo recommended Insight 360 Degrees and Insight Enterprises, sister companies whose principals were Tracy Rowley and Robert Mungo...

INVISTA Sues Rhodia in Delaware for Theft of Trade Secrets

Posted on November 20, 2008
WILMINGTON, Del.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--November 13, 2008--In state court here yesterday, INVISTA filed suit against Rhodia for theft and misappropriation of INVISTA's world-leading chemical process technology. INVISTA originally filed a claim on Aug. 15 in federal court in the Southern District of New York, outlining how Rhodia and DuPont have teamed up to misappropriate INVISTA's world-leading adiponitrile (ADN) technology and are unlawfully using INVISTA's trade secrets to expand in the nylon chemicals business...

THE SCUDERI GROUP, LLC, Plaintiff v. LGD TECHNOLOGY, LLC, and Zheng (David) Lou, Ph.D., Defendants.

Posted on November 20, 2008
An engine development company brought action against component manufacturer for misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements, breach of covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and misrepresentation and fraud...

PARUS HOLDINGS, INC., Plaintiff, v. BANNER & WITCOFF, LTD., Charles Call, and Eugene Nelson, Defendants.

Posted on November 20, 2008
A successor corporation brought action against counsel for predecessor corporation alleging they committed legal malpractice, breached their fiduciary duties, and committed trade secret violations by providing a former employee with confidential information about predecessor corporation's application for a patent...

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