Insights

Join us for a webinar discussion as we cover what you need to know about the big cases, changes, and developments relating to trade secrets from the past year. Our discussion will cover three key areas:

There’s been an increase in the number of criminal prosecutions of trade secret theft under the Economic Espionage Act over the past several years, including the pursuit of those behind state-sponsored cyber intrusions as well as a renewed focus on insider cases involving both private sector companies and academic institutions.

With more employees working remotely due to COVID-19, the risk of disclosure of sensitive business information significantly increases as information is accessed outside the office. Employees are increasingly relying on video services to remain connected, but the increasing prevalence of video services does not come without problems. Join us for a discussion of the risks and tips for ensuring your company’s trade secrets are protected.

Protecting trade secret, confidential, and non-public information is a key issue for many employers that takes many forms, including physical and electronic security, confidentiality agreements and restrictive covenants with employees, and steps to minimize IP leakage. While many of these measures apply to all employers, government contractors may be subject to certain rules that in some cases broaden, or in other cases restrict the methods through which contractors can protect their trade secrets and confidential information. For instance, there are specific statutory and regulatory mechanisms for contractors to protect against the release of trade secret information, such as through the Procurement Integrity Act and the Freedom of Information Act. Additionally, there may be special trade secret considerations for government contractors that develop intellectual property in whole, or in part, with government funds under a federal contract.

Instituting and maintaining a trade secret protection policy is a challenge. If no policy is yet in place, it may be difficult to decide where to begin. For an existing policy, ensuring the policy’s efficacy and adequacy under the law is time-consuming. Regardless of your situation, the solution is to take purposeful and informed action to improve the protection of your highest priority trade secrets.

Trade secrets are not intellectual property – at least not in the European Union (EU) under the EU Trade Secrets Directive. How are trade secrets defined in the EU vs the US? How do the US and EU judicial bodies differ in their view of trade secrets, and how does that protect, or leave vulnerable, your company’s most valuable information? How might cross-border (or transnational) companies protect their intellectual property assets and prepare for threats when subject to dual (EU/US) enforcement?

Trade secrets are only as valuable as they are secret, and against a backdrop of cybersecurity threats and international risks, companies need to stay steps ahead of bad actors to ensure the protection of their most sensitive data and to gain a competitive edge. Blockchain technology is a powerful tool, outside of just the realm of cryptocurrency, that can be utilized to safely encrypt and thereby protect trade secrets.

Protecting trade secrets in the digital age is a modern reality, with confidential information easily stored, sent, and received electronically. Nevertheless, the most significant security breaches often arise from human behavior. 

Protecting trade secrets in the digital age is a modern reality, with confidential information easily stored, sent, and received electronically. Nevertheless, the most significant security breaches often arise from human behavior. 

Protecting trade secrets in the digital age is a modern reality, with confidential information easily stored, sent, and received electronically. Nevertheless, the most significant security breaches often arise from human behavior. 

Join the Coalition and Crowell & Moring LLP for a webinar on The Trump Administration’s Acquisition Policy Agenda.  This webinar will be taking place on March 15th from 12:00pm – 1:00pm and will serve as an update from our Fall Conference Panel on the same subject matter.  

Last month the President signed the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA). For the first time, federal courts will have original jurisdiction over certain civil trade secret misappropriation claims. This is the most important development in trade secrets law in at least 35 years, putting trade secrets on par with patents, copyrights, and trademarks.

Many universities have processes to prosecute and license patents, but few have the same experience with their trade secrets and other confidential information. But trade secret theft has seen a dramatic increase in the last decade, and is now recognized as a priority issue in protecting intellectual property. As universities invest in technology and development – and come to understand the investments already made – the need to protect the value of those investments from misappropriation by former employees, private counterparties to development projects, hackers, and overseas cyber threats becomes clear. This is particularly true given the "digital nature" of today's information, which can be easily copied and transported without the right protections in place. Topics to be covered include: