This is the third in a multi-part discussion [first part] [second part] about whether and when to cut-off damages for trade secret misappropriation. Similar posts on LinkedIn at [first], [second] and [third].
Guidance from the courts on these questions is not always consistent and depending
This is the next in a multi-part discussion of measuring the accounting period for trade secret damages. The common theme across these discussions is the need to untether the liability requirement of secrecy from the damages goal of awarding as much as necessary (but no more than) to eliminate unfair competition. Similar versions of the
This is first in multi-part discussion of measuring the accounting period for trade secret damages. First up: untethering the liability requirement of secrecy from the damages goal of awarding as much as necessary (but no more than) to eliminate unfair competition.
Trade secrets qualify for protection only so long as they are not generally known
There is a lack of consensus among Federal Circuit judges whether a jury should determine the amount of restitution or unjust enrichment damages. The three judges that decided TAOS v. Renesas (Fed. Cir. 2018) did not believe a jury should decide restitution for trade secret misappropriation. A different three-judge panel in TCL v. Ericsson (Fed. Cir. 2019) took
The Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) provides a private right of action under federal law for trade secret misappropriation. It extends to reach a foreign corporation’s conduct occurring outside the United States “if . . . an act in furtherance of the offense was committed in the United States.” 18 U.S.C. § 1837(2). However, the
Judge Davila’s treatment of trade secrets in his exemplary damages award in BladeRoom v. Emerson echoes substantially similar if not the same themes as Professor Lemley in his “IP Rights” theory of trade secrets
In addition to $30 million in compensatory damages, Judge Davila has awarded $30 million in exemplary damages to BladeRoom and against
“No,” says the court in BladeRoom v Facebook et al. “Yes,” says the court in O2 Micro v. Monolithic Power.
Can these different results be reconciled and can a rule for apportioning damages between trade secrets be derived from the inquiry? Yes and yes.
BladeRoom v. Facebook et al.
BladeRoom is ND of California case
Yesterday evening, the district court in the trade secret litigation Waymo v. Uber et al [3:17-cv-939-WHA] issued revised jury instructions on trade secret misappropriation and proposed special verdict form (Dkt. #2499). The revised instructions retain the requirement in earlier drafts of the instructions that Waymo must show Uber actually used the improperly acquired trade secrets
The Defend Trade Secrets Act (“DTSA”), on its face, creates a private action in district court for misappropriation occurring abroad. Filing a DTSA claim in district court may in certain circumstances provide the best remedy for foreign trade secret theft over other alternatives such as filing a complaint with the International Trade Commission. But over
The U.S. Supreme Court’s May 22, 2017 decision in TC Heartland effectively shifts a significant number of patent litigations out of courts previously deemed acceptable to courts in other venues in which the defendant corporation is incorporated. In reaching this decision, the Supreme Court relied upon its 1957 decision in Fourco Glass interpreting the patent venue
