Trading Secrets

A Law Blog on Trade Secrets, Non-Competes, and Computer Fraud

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By: Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Blog Authors

Amy Abeloff
Andrew S. Boutros
Anne Dana
Andrew P. del Junco
Ada Dolph
Agnes Gesiko
Agnes Giseko
Ashley Laken
Adam Laughton
Andrew Masak
Alex Meier
Anne Dunne
Anthony Orler
Arielle Eisenberg
Andrew Stark
Brian Wadsworth
Bart Lazar
Brian See
Bob Stevens
Carrie Price
Christopher Baxter
Corey Bieber
Craig B. Simonsen
David Countiss
Christa Dommers
Cassie Howman-Giles
Christina M. Putman
Carolyn Sieve
Dean L. Fanelli, Ph.D.
Daniel P. Hart
Dominic Hodson
Douglas Mancino
Dawn Mertineit
David Monachino
Dana Orr
Dallin Wilson
Eric Barton
Enedina Cardenas
Erica Hendricks
Emily Kesler
Eddy Salcedo
Erik B. von Zeipel
Erik Weibust
Erin McPhail Wetty
Gary Glaser
Gerald Maatman, Jr.
Georgina McAdam
Guest Author for TradeSecretsLaw.com
Howard Wexler
Jeremy Cohen
James Yu
Jason Stiehl
Jeffrey A. Berman
Justin K. Beyer
James Billings-Kang
Jonathan L. Brophy
Jesse M. Coleman
Jason Jarvis
Joseph Lanser
James D. McNairy
Jessica Mendelson
Jason Priebe
James Beyer
Daniel Joshua Salinas
John Schleppenbach
Janet Siegel
John Skelton
John Tomaszewski
Justine Turnbull
Kristine Argentine
Kevin Green
Karla Grossenbacher
Kurt A. Kappes
Kevin Mahoney
Katherine Perrelli
Kristen Peters
Kyla Vick
Lauren M. Gregory
Lauren Leibovitch
Wan Li
Meredith-Anne Berger
Marjorie Culver
Mark Hansen
Matt Coatney
Michael Baniak
Misty Blair
Matthew Christoff, EnCE
Michael Cross
Michael Elkon
Michael Fucci
Ming Henderson
Molly Joyce
Marcus Mintz
Michael Tamvakologos
Matthew Werber
Michael Wexler
Nicole Bandemer
Nick Clements
Nicholas De Baun
Nila Merola
Ofer Lion
Paul E. Freehling
Patrick Muffo
Peter Talibart
Paul Yovanic Jr.
Razia Begum
Ryan Behndleman
Randy Bruchmiller
Robyn Marsh
Robert A. Fisher
Ron Gart
Richard Lutkus, EnCE, EnCEP, CEH
Ryan Malloy
Robert B. Milligan
Rebecca Woods
Scott E. Atkinson
Seyfarth Shaw LLP
Seth Fortin
J. Scott Humphrey
Sierra J. Chinn-Liu
Sarah Izfar
Salomon Laguerre
Sara LeClerc
Scott A. Schaefers
Stephanie Stewart
Shashank Upadhye
Tessa Cranfield
Thomas A. Haag, Ph.D.
Timothy Haley
Timothy Hsieh
Vlada Feldman
Wayne Bond
Zachary Berk

Latest from Trading Secrets

As readers of this blog well know, there is a growing trend of state legislatures seeking to limit or outright ban non-competes. (See here, here, and here as just a few examples of state efforts to curb non-competes—not to mention the proposed federal legislation and international efforts—in the last six months.) Last week, the Washington Senate jumped on the bandwagon by passing a bill with a 30–18 vote that would severely limit…
After being slapped with a post-trial judgment last April totaling $2.2 million for misappropriation of confidential and proprietary information, two Wyoming bank executives were named in an unprecedented “Notice of Intent to Prohibit” filed in December by the Federal Reserve Board.  If these executives thought that more than two million dollars in civil liability was harsh, they were mistaken, as they now face a much harsher consequence:  a ban from the banking business…
As noted in our February 20th blog post, Robert O’Rourke, a 30 year salesman for cast iron products manufacturer Dura Bar, went on trial in Chicago (Northern District of Illinois) for allegedly stealing Dura trade secrets before leaving to work for a Chinese competitor.  According to the government, O’Rourke downloaded 1,900 files (in 20 minutes) that contained Dura trade secrets and then attempted to board a flight to China with the trade secrets in…
On March 7, 2019, a group of six United States senators from both sides of the aisle submitted a letter to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) requesting a federal investigation into the use of non-compete agreements on the basis that their widening use in recent years raises concerns about their negative impact on both workers and the national economy.  Specifically, the letter asks the GAO to assess the following three questions: What is known about…
Seyfarth has released the results of its fourth annual Real Estate Market Sentiment Survey, which polled commercial real estate executives around the country from all sectors. Of interest to our readers, this year’s survey revealed that 69% of respondents are concerned about a cyberattack hitting their business in 2019, a significant increase compared to last year (46%). View the full survey results Cybersecurity isn’t just for technology companies anymore. More and more, we are seeing…
As we’ve previously written about on this blog, last summer the Massachusetts legislature passed a non-compete reform bill which went into effect on October 1, 2018. Readers of this blog will recall our concerns that the new law is in many ways confusing and may lead to unpredictable results. Now, nearly five months after its effective date, Magistrate Judge Dein of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts has issued the…
On February 21, 2019, the New Hampshire Senate, in a bipartisan voice vote and without debate, passed Senate Bill 197, which would prohibit employers from requiring low-wage workers to enter into non-compete agreements, and makes such agreements void and unenforceable. The Bill applies to “Low-wage employees,” which is defined to include (i) employees who make less than or equal to twice the federal minimum wage, i.e., $14.50 per hour based on the current federal minimum…
Please join us for a one-hour CLE webinar on Wednesday, March 20, 2019, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern / 12:00 p.m. Central / 10:00 a.m. Pacific. On March 20, 2019, at 12:00 p.m. Central Time, in Seyfarth’s second installment of its 2019 Trade Secrets Webinar Series, Seyfarth attorneys will focus on trade secret and client relationship considerations in the banking and financial services industry. Seyfarth attorneys J. Scott Humphrey and Marcus Mintz will address the following…
In a case highly watched by trade secret lawyers and others, Robert O’Rourke, a 30-year salesman for cast iron products manufacturer Dura Bar, went on trial last week in Chicago (Northern District of Illinois) for allegedly stealing Dura trade secrets before leaving to work for a Chinese competitor. According to the government, O’Rourke was a highly respected salesman at Dura until he became disgruntled with Dura management and decided to leave Dura for a Chinese…
The American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) will host its annual Trade Secret Law Summit at the American Express Company in New York City’s Financial District on March 21-22, 2019. Seyfarth is a proud sponsor of the Summit, at which partners Erik Weibust (Vice Chair of AIPLA’s Trade Secret Law Committee) will be speaking on Protection of Trade Secrets in the Social Media Era,  and moderating a panel on Trade Secrets and Restrictive Covenants in…