After a week-long trial in June, a jury in the Southern District of Texas awarded digital marketing firm Six Dimensions, Inc. (Dimensions) $287,000 for its breach of contract claim against its former employee, Lynn Brading. However, the jury rejected Dimensions’ $50 million lawsuit against its competitor, Perficient Inc. (Perficient) for stealing its trade secrets.
Continue Reading Employee Wrongdoing Does Not Guarantee Favorable Trade Secrets Verdict
Trials
Huawei in Hot Water: Trump Declares National Emergency
On Wednesday, May 15th, President Trump declared a national emergency via executive order over threats against American technology. The order authorized Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, in consultation with various other agency heads to block transactions involving information or communications technology posing an “unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States.”
The…
Is your Trade Secret Protected from a FOIA Request? The Supreme Court to Review FOIA Exemption 4
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Exemption 4 provides that “trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a person [that is] privileged or confidential” can be withheld when responding to a FOIA request. But what does this exemption mean? Many district courts and circuit courts have ruled on this issue but the rulings…
Pepsi Snags a Victory in Trade Secret Battle with ScentSational
In May 2018, U.S. District Judge Katherine B. Forrest of the Southern District of New York granted PepsiCo, Inc.’s (“Pepsi”) summary judgment motion against ScentSational Technologies, LLC (“ScentSational”).
ScentSational, a company that develops methods of delivering scents in food and beverage packaging to alter a consumer’s taste perception, alleged that Pepsi learned its trade secrets…
When You Commit the Crime, Not Only Will You Do the Time, But You Will Also Pay the Fine
In July 2018, U.S. District Judge James Patterson imposed a $59 million penalty against China’s largest wind-turbine firm, Sinovel Wind Group LLC (“Sinovel”), for stealing trade secrets from a Massachusetts-based technology company, American Superconductor Inc. (“AMSC”). This fine was imposed as restitution to the American company, AMSC, after Sinovel was found guilty of stealing…