Why Conduct an Intellectual Property Audit

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As we discussed in our recent post How to Conduct Intellectual Property Audits, your company’s intellectual property (IP) is among its most important and valuable assets. The goals of an audit of that IP are to: 1) determine what IP your company owns, and 2) develop a strategy to effectively use and manage those assets …Read more

How to Conduct Intellectual Property Audits to Protect and Maximize the Value of Your Company’s IP

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Intellectual property – which include patents, copyrights, trade secrets and trademarks – is among your company’s most important and valuable assets. It defines your brand and gives you a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Whatever goods or services your company may offer, protecting your IP portfolio should be among your company’s most important business goals. …Read more

How to Resolve a Trade Secret Lawsuit by Entering a Standstill Agreement

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Why litigate a case for months or years, only to arrive at a settlement that would have been possible before the case began? In many cases, neither litigant would choose this approach, but it happens quite often nonetheless. About 60 percent of trade secret cases filed in federal court in the last decade ended in …Read more

How to Manage Trade Secret Litigation Costs

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Trade secret litigation can be expensive. Whether you’re bringing a lawsuit to protect your secrets or defending against alleged misappropriation by your company, here are some useful strategies to manage trade secret litigation costs. Identify the Trade Secrets Early Identifying the trade secrets involved in misappropriation litigation is just the beginning. Well before filing a …Read more

Trade Secret Misappropriation – Chinese Biotech Researcher Pleads Guilty

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The U.S. Department of Justice has secured another conviction against a Chinese national for trade secret misappropriation, which is part of a larger push to protect valuable intellectual property. Li Chen, a long time biotech researcher in a medical lab at Nationwide Children’s Hospital Research Institute in Columbus, Ohio, pled guilty to conspiracy to misappropriate …Read more

Protecting Trade Secrets – Recent High Profile Trade Secret Enforcement Cases

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Companies often consider trade secrets to be their crown jewels, particularly in Silicon Valley. In the digital age, where copying vast amounts of data and transmitting it via the Internet is as easy as one click, protecting trade secrets has become ever more challenging for highly competitive technology companies. Losing control over your trade secrets …Read more

Delaware Court Rules that Stockholder Right to Inspect Books is a Matter of “Internal Affairs”

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On August 13, 2020, the Delaware Court of Chancery issued an opinion in JUUL Labs, Inc. v. Grove, holding that a stockholder could not use Section 1601 of the California Corporations Code to inspect the books and records of a Delaware corporation because the “internal affairs doctrine” dictated that Delaware law must apply. The case arose when Daniel …Read more

Detecting Early Signs of Trade Secret Theft by Competitors

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Trade secrets are frequently associated with a company’s most valuable and profitable products and services. Maintaining control of critical confidential information is often essential to a growing a company’s revenue stream, enhancing product development, moving into new markets, and continuing to grow and succeed. Along with restricting access to trade secret information to a need-to-know …Read more

10 Tips for Managing Your Business During the Coronavirus Pandemic

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While we all struggle with the unknown implications of the Coronavirus on our families, friends, and business associates, there are some things a company may wish to consider doing to address the impacts of conducting business in this financially distressed climate. Here are 10 tips you may wish to consider: 1. Maintain Communication with Clients, Customers, …Read more

CARES Act Title II – Enhanced Unemployment Benefits and Targeted Tax Relief

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Title II of the CARES Act (“Act”), which was signed into law on March 27, 2020, is entitled Assistance for American Workers, Families and Businesses. Its provisions are aimed at providing enhanced unemployment benefits to employers and employees, and offering targeted tax relief to individuals, businesses, and not-for-profit enterprises. Here is an overview of Title …Read more