Helen Osun is an associate in Crowell & Moring's Washington, D.C. office. She is a member of the firm's Advertising & Media and Litigation practice groups.
Helen represents clients in claims comprising of false advertising, unfair competition, contract breach, trade secrets disputes, and health care disputes. Helen has assisted clients in initiating and defending false advertising challenges before the National Advertising Division (NAD). On behalf of companies in false advertising disputes, she has conducted preliminary research and drafted NAD challenge letters for false advertising claims. Helen has worked on Lanham Act false adverting cases involving MillerCoors and Novartis. In these matters, Helen’s role consisted of drafting the complaint and/or other discovery motions, leading fact discovery, drafting and analyzing damages reports. Additionally, Helen represented plaintiff in a false advertising matter between two pharmaceutical companies relating to superiority claims. In less than three months, both parties settled and plaintiff received favorable settlement terms.
Helen received her J.D. from Howard University School of Law where she won law student of the year. She was a member of the Howard International Moot Court Team and an intern for the Honorable Sheila R. Tillerson Adams. While at Howard she also served as a Dean's Fellow, a Marshall-Brennan Teaching Fellow, and cultivated her passion for a pro bono work when she interned at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
Prior to law school, Helen earned her B.S. in business administration with a concentration in international business from Towson University.
Helen’s recent experience includes:
- Representing beer brewing company in a highly publicized false advertising dispute stemming from Super Bowl ads.
- Defended clients in the food and beverage industry against false advertising and unfair competition claims in New York and Washington D.C.
- Represented pharmaceutical company in a false advertising challenge relating to superiority claims.
- Representation of a global data technology corporation in arbitration and preliminary injunction proceeding involving breach of contract claims.
- Representation of a Software Company in litigation and counseling regarding potential theft of trade secrets, copyright violations, and violations of non-competitive agreements.
- Assisting in complex discovery preparation for a large healthcare insurance company.
- Conducting preliminary research on behalf of companies in false advertising claim disputes, as well as drafting NAD challenge letters for comparative superiority and unsubstantiated claims.
- Representing Foreign National and American Embassy employees, contractors, and immediate family members in suit against Iran arising from the 1983/1984 U.S. Embassy attacks in Beirut, Lebanon and before the United States Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund.
Affiliations
Admitted to practice: District of Columbia, Maryland
Speeches & Presentations
Publications
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"New Jersey Superior Court Tosses Trade Secret Claims for Failure to Plead with Sufficient Specificity Under New Jersey Trade Secrets Act," Crowell & Moring’s Trade Secrets Trends
(March 22, 2021).
Authors: Helen Osun and Julia Milewski.
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"Pot Got Your Tongue? Company Alleges Former COO Disclosed Trade Secrets to Competitors," Crowell & Moring’s Trade Secrets Trends
(September 1, 2020).
Authors: Raija Horstman, Helen Osun and Uri Niv.
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"Misappropriation Claims Brought Over Tax Trade Secrets," Crowell & Moring’s Trade Secrets Trends
(June 25, 2020).
Authors: Helen Osun and Julia Milewski.
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"Is the Platform You’re Using a Potential Threat to Protecting Your Trade Secret?" Crowell & Moring’s Trade Secrets Trends
(April 9, 2020).
Authors: Helen Osun and Astor Heaven.
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"Dueling Claims: Trade Secret Theft or Antitrust Threat?" Crowell & Moring's Trade Secrets Trends
(November 14, 2019).
Authors: Helen Osun and Julia Milewski.
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"Will the FTC Crack Down on Online Influencers?" Crowell & Moring's Retail & Consumer Products Law Observer
(November 6, 2019).
Authors: Lauren Aronson and Helen Osun.
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"Restrictive Covenants in the Fourth Circuit," Crowell & Moring's Trade Secrets Trends
(June 12, 2019).
Authors: Helen Osun and Laura Schwartz.
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"Do Diversity Initiatives Warrant Trade Secret Protections?" Crowell & Moring's Trade Secrets Trends
(February 19, 2019).
Authors: Helen Osun and Julia Milewski.
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"Is your Trade Secret Protected from a FOIA Request? The Supreme Court to Review FOIA Exemption 4," Crowell & Moring's Trade Secrets Trends
(February 5, 2019).
Authors: Helen Osun and Raija Horstman.
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"Fourth Circuit Reaffirms Protection for Combination Trade Secrets," Crowell & Moring's Trade Secrets Trends
(November 28, 2018).
Authors: Helen Osun and Julia Milewski.
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"Pepsi Snags a Victory in Trade Secret Battle with ScentSational," Crowell & Moring's Trade Secrets Trends
(August 31, 2018).
Authors: Julia Milewski and Helen Osun.
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"The Growing Trend For Full Disclosures: What’s in Your Cleaning Products?" Crowell & Moring's Trade Secrets Trends
(July 13, 2018).
Authors: Helen Osun, Raija Horstman and Anne Elise Herold Li.
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"When You Commit the Crime, Not Only Will You Do the Time, But You Will Also Pay the Fine," Crowell & Moring's Trade Secrets Trends
(July 10, 2018).
Authors: Helen Osun and Anne Elise Herold Li.
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"The DNC Tests the Meaning of Trade Secrets in the Political Arena," Crowell & Moring's Trade Secrets Trends
(May 1, 2018).
Author: Helen Osun.
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"PharMerica Learns the Hard Way: One Must Have a Trade Secret In Order to Survive a Motion for Summary Judgment," Crowell & Moring's Trade Secrets Trends
(March 26, 2018).
Author: Helen Osun.
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"Diversity is Important – But Is It A Trade Secret?" Crowell & Moring's Trade Secrets Trends
(March 5, 2018).
Authors: Mark A. Romeo and Helen Osun.
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"Holding Agencies Accountable: Ad Agency Agrees to Pay Largest Penalty Ever for False Advertising," Crowell & Moring's Retail & Consumer Products Law Observer
(February 15, 2018).
Authors: Lauren B.Aronson and Helen Osun.
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"A Trade Secret Telenovela: Defendants Alleged to Have Misappropriated Trade Secrets, Engage in Tortious Interference, and Unfair Trade Practices," Crowell & Moring's Trade Secrets Trends
(January 30, 2018).
Author: Helen Osun.
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"When You Do the Crime, You Must Do the Time," Crowell & Moring's Trade Secrets Trends
(January 30, 2018).
Author: Helen Osun.
Client Alerts & Newsletters
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"The Supreme Court Limits FTC’s §13(b) Powers,"
Advertising & State AG Alert
(April 27, 2021).
Contacts: Christopher A. Cole, Raija Horstman, Jacob Canter, Helen Osun, Akhil Sheth
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"Meat Product Companies Face Increasing Litigation for Humane Raising Claims,"
Advertising & State AG Alert
(March 12, 2021).
Contacts: Christopher A. Cole, Roy Abernathy, Helen Osun, Mariam Sarwar, Roy Abernathy
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"FTC Sharpens Focus on Biometrics with Facial Recognition Settlement,"
Advertising & State AG Alert
(February 9, 2021).
Contacts: Kate M. Growley, CIPP/G, CIPP/US, Kristin J. Madigan, CIPP/US, Helen Osun
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"FTC Settles with Fashion Retailer in $9.3 Million Dollar Mail Order Rule Violation,"
Advertising & State AG Alert
(April 27, 2020).
Contacts: Christopher A. Cole, Helen Osun
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"Business Disruption in a Pandemic: Allocating Limited Supply,"
Litigation Alert
(April 20, 2020).
Contacts: Luke van Houwelingen, Scott L. Winkelman, Helen Osun
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"Business Disruption and Commercial Contracts (Part 1): What Does The Force Majeure Clause Cover?,"
Litigation Alert
(April 1, 2020).
Contacts: Bryan Brewer, Mark A. Klapow, John L. Murino, Helen Osun
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"Human S.E. v. Czech Republic – Ministry of Health: Court Denies Enforcement Under the N.Y. Convention,"
(November 8, 2018).
Contacts: Ian A. Laird, Helen Osun
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"Recent Happenings in Advertising & Product Risk Management – February 2018,"
Advertising & State AG Alert
(February 26, 2018).
Contacts: Christopher A. Cole, Cheryl A. Falvey, John Fuson, David Ervin, Lauren Aronson, Carolyn W. Wagner, Matthew Cohen, Helen Osun
Media Mentions
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