UTSA ‘Trade Secrets’ ‘disclosure doctrine’
Continue Reading Threatened Misappropriation of Trade Secrets vs. Inevitable Disclosure Doctrine–When Is the Line Crossed?
Trade Secrets
Obvious, Within General Knowledge, and … Trade Secret? An Update To The Disclosure Requirement of CCP 2019.210.
California Code of Civil Procedure Section 2019.210 requires a plaintiff in a trade secret case to identify “with reasonable particularity” the trade secret it claims was misappropriated before commencing discovery. This usually leads to the first dispute in such a lawsuit – whether the plaintiff has adequately identified the trade secret. In a recent case, Brescia v. Angelin, (2nd Dist. Mar. 17, 2009) — Cal.Rptr.3d —, 2009 WL 684744, the California Court of Appeal provided additional guidance for settling this dispute.
The California Uniform Trade Secrets Act (“CUTSA”), Civil Code Section 3426 et seq., creates statutory protection for a company’s trade secrets. The CUTSA defines a trade secret as information, including a formula, pattern, compilation, program, device, method, technique, or process, that (1) derives independent economic value from not being generally known, and (2) is protected from disclosure by reasonable means. The classic example of trade secret is the formula for Coke or Pepsi. Continue Reading Obvious, Within General Knowledge, and … Trade Secret? An Update To The Disclosure Requirement of CCP 2019.210.
Trade Secrets and Preemption
Although several federal courts in California have previously considered the issue of preemption in trade secret misappropriation cases, the Sixth Appellate District, in K.C. Multimedia, Inc. v. Bank of America Technology & Operations, Inc. ___ Cal.Rptr. 3d ____ (6th Dist. Mar. 3, 2009), became one of the first (if not the first) California state court to hold that the California Uniform Trade Secrets Act (“CUTSA”) preempts state common law claims based on the same facts as a misappropriation claim. This ruling could have a significant impact on how trade secret misappropriation cases are both pled and litigated in California.
Edwards v. Arthur Andersen LLP The Death of Non-Competition Agreements?
By James Kachmar
Last summer, I wrote about the appellate court’s decision in VL Systems, Inc. v. Unison, Inc. in which the Court struck down a “no hire” provision contained in a consulting agreement as violating section 16600 of California’s Business and Professions Code. Section 16600 provides “Except as provided in this chapter, every contract by which anyone is restrained from engaging in a lawful profession, trade or business of any kind is to that extent void.” This summer, the California Supreme Court in Edwards v. Arthur Andersen used the same reasoning to strike down a “non-competition” provision in an employment agreement.Continue Reading Edwards v. Arthur Andersen LLP The Death of Non-Competition Agreements?
Third Party Trade Secret Misappropriation and the Statute of Limitations
By James Kachmar
A California appellate court was recently faced with the issue of when the statute of limitations runs on a claim for trade secret misappropriation against a third party when the plaintiff’s trade secrets are stolen and sold to that third party. On May 30, 2008, the appellate court issued its opinion in Cypress Semiconductor Corporation v. Superior Court (Silvaco Data Systems) and held that the statute of limitations on a cause of action for trade secret misappropriation begins to run when the plaintiff has reason to suspect that the third party knows or reasonably should know that the information in its possession is a trade secret. The appellate court held that the third party’s actual state of mind did not matter for purposes of the running of the statute of limitations.Continue Reading Third Party Trade Secret Misappropriation and the Statute of Limitations