January 18, 2013
The past year saw continued expansion of trade secret law into the realm of cyberspace, with two federal courts of appeal tackling the scope of the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986, 18 U.S.C. § 1030, and numerous trial courts grappling with the application of trade secrets to social media. The Department of Justice brought a number of successful criminal trade secret prosecutions, and Congress passed the Theft of Trade Secrets Clarification Act in an effort to strengthen the government’s ability to prosecute criminal trade secret theft under the Economic Espionage Act of 1996. Senator Herbert H. Kohl (D-Wis.) also introduced the Protecting American Trade Secret and Innovation Act of 2012 which, if passed, has the potential to revolutionize civil trade secret litigation, until now almost entirely a creature of state law.
Jason Schwartz, Alexander Southwell, Molly Senger and Sue Bai of Gibson Dunn highlight these and other significant 2012 developments in their article "2012 Trade Secrets Litigation Round-Up" published in BNA’s Patent, Trademark & Copyright Journal in January 2013.
Reprinted with permission from BNA’s Patent, Trademark & Copyright Journal, 1/18/2013. © 2013, The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc.
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s lawyers are available to assist in addressing any questions you may have regarding the issues discussed in this update. Please contact the Gibson Dunn lawyer with whom you work, the authors, Jason C. Schwartz (202-955-8242, [email protected]), Alexander H. Southwell (212-351-3981, [email protected]), Molly T. Senger (202-955-8571, [email protected]), or Sue J. Bai (202-530-9587, [email protected]), or any of the following practice group co-chairs:
Labor and Employment Group:
Eugene Scalia – Washington, D.C. (202-955-8206, [email protected])
Catherine A. Conway – Los Angeles (213-229-7822, [email protected])
Intellectual Property Group:
Wayne Barsky – Los Angeles (310-557-8183, [email protected])
Mark Reiter – Dallas (214-698-3360, [email protected])
Josh Krevitt – New York (212-351-2490, [email protected])
Information Technology and Data Privacy Practice Group:
M. Sean Royall – Dallas (214-698-3256, [email protected])
Debra Wong Yang – Los Angeles (213-229-7472, [email protected])
S. Ashlie Beringer – Palo Alto (650-849-5219, [email protected])
Alexander H. Southwell – New York (212-351-3981, [email protected])
© 2013 Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
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