By Dale C. Campbell

Most states have adopted some form of the Uniform Trade Secret Act (the “UTSA”). The USTA provides that “actual or threatened misappropriation may be enjoined.” (See Cal. Civ. Code § 3426.2(a).) However, neither the UTSA nor California’s version of the USTA defines the term “threatened” misappropriation. Unlike other areas of intellectual property law, the protectability of trade secrets is defined by state law. Despite almost nationwide adoption of the USTA, state law differs greatly concerning which acts may be enjoined as “threatened” misappropriations.

 

Continue Reading Threatened Misappropriation of Trade Secrets vs. Inevitable Disclosure Doctrine–When Is the Line Crossed?

By Zachary Wadlé

The widely popular Guitar Hero videogame series created by Activision Publishing, Inc. allows players to emulate their favorite rock guitarists, without requiring any actual guitar playing skill. However, this virtual reality was endangered last year by a threatened patent infringement lawsuit by guitar company, Gibson, longtime maker of iconic rock guitars such as the Gibson “Les Paul,” “SG,” “ES-335,” and “Flying V,” to name a few.

 In January 2008, Gibson sent a letter to Activision, claiming that Guitar Hero infringed upon Gibson’s registered U.S. Patent No. 5,990,405 (the “‘405 Patent”). This patent covered "a system and method for generating and controlling a simulated musical concert experience." Gibson claimed that the Guitar Hero game controllers – miniature plastic replicas of Gibson guitars with no strings, and four buttons on the fret-board – infringed upon Gibson’s patent and required Activision to obtain a license from Gibson, or else halt sales of any version of the Guitar Hero game and controllers.    

Continue Reading Keep On Rockin’ In The Virtual World–Guitar Hero Videogame Does Not Infringe Gibson Guitar’s Patent

By Scott Cameron

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.

By Jeff Pietsch

Trademark law is traditionally concerned with protecting consumers. Trademarks protect consumers by helping consumers identify the source of the goods or service. For example, when a consumer buys a product, she knows exactly what she is going to get with the product based on its mark. Trademark law was designed to protect these consumers by protecting these marks against copy-cats or products with confusingly similar marks. Cases based on consumer protection concern similar products with similar marks that may confuse consumers. 

Continue Reading Trademark Basics: Dilution

Scott Hervey was quoted in a news article about his client, artist David Garibaldi, and the launch of his new clothing line.

Following up on his quote that he hoped for good sales of David’s product, we are happy to report that initial sales have be far in excess of original expectations.  Congratulations to David and his entire team.