The much-ballyhooed legal battle over trade secrets concerning self-driving automobile technology involving Uber took its latest (and perhaps final) turn last week, when engineer Anthony Levandowski was sentenced to 18 months in prison and ordered to pay over $700,000 in restitution. Embroiled in the middle of a billion-dollar dispute between tech giants, Levandowski had previously pled guilty to the single count of trade secret theft and was already facing a $179 million judgment awarded to…

In a rare appellate decision on enforceability of non-disclosure agreements and a plaintiff’s burden to establish the existence of trade secrets, the First Circuit recently overturned a district court summary judgment order and trial verdict. This decision serves as an important reminder for both those who litigate trade secrets claims and those who draft restrictive covenants agreements. Background TLS Management and Marketing Services, LLC, a tax planning and consulting firm, sued its former employee, Ricky…

The American Intellectual Property Law Association’s (AIPLA) Trade Secret Committee (of which partner Erik Weibust is Vice Chair) is taking its annual Trade Secret Law Summit online this year, with a series of weekly webinars. The first of the series, on Wednesday, August 12, 2020, at 2:00 p.m. EST, features partner Scott Humphrey, who will be moderating a panel entitled “Litigation Funding in Trade Secrets Cases.” Litigation finance is one of the hottest trends and…

Partner Erik Weibust will be speaking on Thursday, August 13, 2020, at 12:00 p.m. EST, on an American Bar Association webinar entitled “Non-Compete Update: Practical Guidance in Response to COVID-19.” Erik will be covering topics including “Enforcing Non-Competes During High Unemployment” and “Preparation and Pursuit of Non-Compete Litigation During Court Closures/Limited Access.” Other topics include: Level Set on Forms of Restrictive Covenants Legislative Updates Nationwide Non-Compete Programs Employees Returning to the Workplace Confidential Information and…

At the end of 2019, Coty Inc. (“Coty”) expanded its brand portfolio by closing a notable $600 million deal for a majority stake in reality star Kylie Jenner’s young cosmetics company, King Kylie LLC (d/b/a Kylie Cosmetics). The purchase placed the valuation of the Kylie Cosmetics at $1.2 billion. Drama soon followed the acquisition as reports questioning Ms. Jenner’s net worth (and consequently, the value of her cosmetics empire) surfaced in May 2020, overshadowing Coty’s…

As many of our blog readers will know, the enforceability of restrictive covenants often depends on which state’s law applies to the dispute. For example, California is well known for refusing to enforce employee non-competition agreements and, recently, refusing to honor forum selection clauses in agreements with California employees without the employee first receiving legal advice. In contrast, with limited exceptions, most other states will generally enforce restrictive covenants. Consequently, for employers, controlling and choosing…

Seyfarth partners Robert Milligan and Dawn Mertineit recently recorded a 60-minute webinar for California CLE provider CEB, “Handling a Remote Work Force and Return to Work Considerations in the Age of COVID-19: Best Practices for Protecting Trade Secrets and Confidential Information.” The course focuses on the best practices and steps companies can take to continue to protect intellectual capital during the coronavirus pandemic, including the unique challenges of remote working and the efforts to slowly…