2014 Trade Secrets Litigation Round-Up

January 13, 2015

2014 saw a flurry of activity in response to an increase in threats to U.S. trade secrets.  Both the House of Representatives and the Senate introduced bipartisan amendments to the EEA that would create a federal civil cause of action for the misappropriation of trade secrets.  The Department of Justice secured the first-ever indictment against foreign government actors for trade secret theft and economic espionage, charging five officers of the Chinese military with engaging in a sophisticated cyber-hacking scheme to steal U.S. company trade secrets for the benefit of Chinese competitors.  There were also further developments in several ongoing and high-profile civil litigation matters, including the Fourth Circuit’s vacatur of a nearly $1 billion jury verdict in a closely watched trade secrets misappropriation case.  

Jason Schwartz, Alexander Southwell, Martin Hewett, Andrea Lucas, and Christopher Smith discuss these and other significant 2014 developments in trade secrets law in their article "2014 Trade Secrets Litigation Round-Up" published in BNA’s Patent, Trademark & Copyright Journal in January 2015.

Reprinted with permission from BNA’s Patent, Trademark & Copyright Journal, 1/9/2015.  ©  2015, 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 usually work or the authors:

Jason C. Schwartz – Washington, D.C. (202-955-8242, jschwartz@gibsondunn.com)
Alexander H. Southwell – New York (212-351-3981, asouthwell@gibsondunn.com)
Martin A. Hewett – Washington, D.C. (202-955-8207, mhewett@gibsondunn.com)
Andres R. Lucas – Washington, D.C. (202-887-3766, alucas@gibsondunn.com)
Christopher Smith* – Washington, D.C. (202-887-3764, csmith@gibsondunn.com)

Please also feel free to contact any of the following practice group co-chairs:

Labor and Employment Group:
Eugene Scalia – Washington, D.C. (202-955-8206, escalia@gibsondunn.com)
Catherine A. Conway – Los Angeles (213-229-7822, cconway@gibsondunn.com)

* Mr. Smith is a recent graduate, not yet licensed to practice law.       

© 2015 Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP