The American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) will host its annual Trade Secret Law Summit at The Orrick Building in San Francisco’s Financial District on March 16-17, 2020. Seyfarth partner Scott Humphrey will be speaking on a panel entitled “Use of Litigation Funding in Trade Secret Cases” with representatives of two major litigation funders. Other Seyfarth attendees will include Erik Weibust (Vice Chair of AIPLA’s Trade Secret Law Committee), Marcus Mintz, and Dawn Mertineit. The…

Practicing Law Institute’s “Noncompetes and Restrictive Covenants 2020″ has been posted on-demand and is currently available for viewing until January 2021. Among many other panelists and speakers, Seyfarth partner Erik Weibust spoke on a panel entitled “Advanced Issues in Noncompete Matters.”  CLE credit is available.…

On January 23, 2020, the Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals in Dallas retracted its previous ruling in the trade secrets dispute Goldberg, et al. v. EMR (USA Holdings) Inc., et al. and issued a new opinion upon rehearing. In doing so, the Court reversed course on its previous ruling that communications with customers and suppliers involved a matter of public concern and were an exercise of free speech. The Court’s new ruling, which was…

For the first time in 15 years, the Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”), Massachusetts’ highest court, issued a decision analyzing the enforceability of non-solicitation covenants, the distinction between such covenants in the context of the sale of a business versus employment, and equitable tolling of restrictive covenants. As set forth below, this decision serves as an important reminder to businesses who impose restrictive covenants governed by Massachusetts law. Factual Background While the factual background of the…

Within the last five months, the two executive arms responsible for enforcing antitrust laws—the US Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”)—held public workshops to examine the effect of non-compete clauses in employment contracts on the labor market. The DOJ held its workshop on September 23, 2019, while the FTC recently held its own at the top of the year, on January 9, 2020. The purpose of the FTC workshop was…

As a special feature of our blog—guest postings by experts, clients, and other professionals—please enjoy this blog entry from Donal O’Connell, Managing Director of Chawton Innovation Services Ltd. One of the key pieces of legislation related to trade secrets in Russia is the Federal Law of July 29, 2004 on Commercial Secrecy. This was passed by the State Duma on July 9, 2004, and endorsed by the Federation Council on July 15, 2004. This piece…

On Tuesday, January 28 at 12:00 p.m. Central, in the first installment of the 2020 Trade Secrets Webinar Series, Seyfarth attorneys will review noteworthy legislation, cases and other legal developments from across the nation over the last year in the area of trade secrets and data theft, non-competes and other restrictive covenants, and computer fraud. Plus, they will provide predictions for what to watch for in 2020 and provide an overview of the material law…