The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) which went into effect in March contains a little-discussed provision that could greatly strengthen the value and patentability of long-held trade secrets. In published notes on the new law, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has indicated that it will no longer consider secret sales and secret use of […]
The European Union is in the early stages of creating a Union-wide law governing the protection of trade secrets. The new law, proposed Nov. 28 and at least a year from possible implementation, would replace a patchwork of individual state regulations and procedures governing trade secrets. This patchwork, observers say, makes the trade waters of […]
In the 47 states that have adopted The Uniform Trade Secrets Act, a plaintiff who files a lawsuit in bad faith for misappropriation of trade secrets can be ordered to pay the defendant’s attorney fees. Until recently, however, it wasn’t clear whether such a right extended to defendants against whom such a lawsuit was maintained […]
The theft of intellectual property and particularly of trade secrets has become an area of increasing concern among businesses in the past decade. In part, this appears to be due to the relative ease with which such information can be stolen over legitimate network access links. A study by the Insider Threat Lab of the […]
Anyone distributing news online can rest easier tonight. The Second Circuit held last week that Flyonthewall.com (“Fly”) is not guilty of “hot news” misappropriation for reporting leaked stock recommendations—finding the claim preempted by the Copyright Act.