January 21, 2011
Hardly a day went by in 2010 when the daily case summaries did not include some mention of trade secret litigation, often in conjunction with the breach of non-competition covenants and other related claims. Important developments of the year included what may turn out to be a landmark decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit concerning the "inevitable disclosure" doctrine, cautionary decisions from the Second and Sixth Circuits refusing to accord trade secret status to information that was not adequately guarded, and significant attention from the U.S. Department of Justice in criminal prosecution of trade secret misappropriation cases and in civil antitrust enforcement against employee non-solicitation agreements.
Washington, D.C. partner Jason Schwartz and associates Daniel Davis, Joshua Chadwick and Stephanie Accuosti are the authors of "2010 Trade Secrets Litigation Round-Up" [PDF] published in BNA’s Patent, Trademark & Copyright Journal on January 21, 2011.
Reproduced with permission from BNA’s Patent, Trademark & Copyright Journal, 81 PTCJ 354, 1/21/2011. Copyright by The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. (800-372-1033) http://www.bna.com.