Trade Secrets

Represented plaintiff in substantial litigation involving trade secret misappropriation and breach of confidentiality agreement. After expedited discovery and a preliminary injunction were obtained against the defendants, the corporate defendant terminated two individual defendants. Ultimately, the team achieved a favorable financial settlement with the corporate defendant and obtained significant non-monetary relief from all defendants.

Represented Amazon.com Inc. in noncompetition agreement/trade secret dispute involving eBay's hiring of a senior Amazon.com executive. Settled.

Prosecution of a preliminary injunction action against former investment advisor who left to join competitor and continued to call on her former Ameriprise customers. (July 2008)

Successful opposition to former employer's attempt to enjoin Maxim Integrated Products from employing engineers in the field of high-speed, high-resolution analog-to-digital converters based on supposed "inevitable disclosure" of trade secrets. 579 S.E.2d 449 (N.C. Ct. App. 2003)

Counsel for plaintiff in action to recover and protect trade secrets; preliminary injunction granted together with unique order allowing ex parte collection of relevant electronic data under supervision of former Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court acting as a special master.

Defended client in trade secret infringement action brought by AT&T relating to video data compression technology.

Counsel for defendant Spacelabs in declaratory judgment action on trade secret and unfair competition claims related to computerized medical monitoring systems.

Represented plaintiff BC-USA Inc. in competitor non-compete and trade secret misappropriation.

Obtained preliminary and permanent injunctive relief for client Big Fish Games, in a case alleging violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, RICO, Uniform Trade Secrets Act, Unfair Business Practices Act, and other statutes, based upon a competitor’s unauthorized access to Big Fish Games’ proprietary and trade secret information. The case was favorably resolved, after substantial discovery, through a confidential settlement.

Represented plaintiff Boeing in trade secret litigation and defended antitrust monopolization counterclaims relating to aircraft spare parts.

Trial and appellate counsel for plaintiff Boeing in landmark trade secret case with antitrust counterclaims involving aircraft spare parts sales. Jury verdict for Boeing on trade secret claim was upheld on appeal. Antitrust verdict against Boeing was reversed on appeal. 108 Wn. 2d 38 (1987)

Trial counsel for Dimension Data and company Vice President in trade secret, unfair competition and employee raiding lawsuit. Defeated motions for temporary and preliminary injunctive relief. Affirmed on appeal to Ninth Circuit. Settled after the first week of scheduled three-week jury trial.

Obtained temporary injunction for Callaway Golf in "inevitable disclosure" trade secret case.

Prosecution of restrictive covenant and breach of fiduciary duty claims. Obtained Injunction Order.  (2006)

Counsel for Cleaire and individual defendants in a trade secrets action concerning diesel emissions reduction technology.

Obtained injunction for employer on claims of breach of noncompetition agreement and trade secret misappropriation.

Part of team representing Cisco Systems in international trade secret and patent litigation regarding network routers and their operating systems,and helped to formulate an innovative case strategy and basis for a global injunction against Huawei. The case was settled favorably to Cisco.

Represented well-funded medical device company in trade secret and officer liability case involving medical equipment. Moved for key "smoking gun" documents that facilitated settlement.

Part of the trial team defending Matrix Pharmaceuticals against trade secret and patent claims relating to processes for purifying collagen for human use. Drafted a successful motion for sanctions against opposing counsel that forced Collagen to settle the case favorably to Matrix.

Represented plaintiff Conseco in employee trade secret misappropriation and breach of confidentiality claim. TRO granted. Case settled.

Assisted in litigation to restrain sales executive departing from truck manufacturer from breaching contractual obligations (non-compete clause) and violation of state trade secrets law.

Represented Daymon in an action against several former officers and their new company alleging breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract and trade secret misappropriation. The jury verdict awarded $1 million plus $400,000 in costs and attorneys' fees, as well as a $270,000 damages award, with $40,000 in attorneys' fees, from a separate civil contempt trial based on injunction violations. CV 2002-016610

Defense of trade secret misappropriation suit involving seed corn germplasm.

Represented EFI in this case where an Israeli company agreed to develop an electronic whiteboard. After multiple failed attempts by Pegasus, EFI developed the technology on its own. After seeking declaratory relief, Pegasus counterclaimed for theft of trade secrets and patent infringement. The case was settled on favorable terms and included a license agreement.

Represented defendant in employee/competitor trade secret misappropriation.

Prosecution of restrictive covenant case against former president of advertising agency. Settled. (2001) 

Represented plaintiff in employee/competitor trade secret misappropriation claim. TRO granted.  Case settled.

Represented well-funded start-up company as plaintiff in trade secret theft case involving patent applications wrongfully filed on client's cellular base station transmitter and receiver Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC) chip design. Moved for key "smoking gun" documents that led to a favorable settlement.

Counsel for Intel in contract claim brought by Hifn involving IPSec technology. Delaware Court of Chancery granted Intel's motion for summary judgment. (2006 - 2007)

Prosecuted action for misappropriation of software trade secrets and breach of contract claims involving hospitality software.  Court entered temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction.

Prosecuted action for misappropriation of trade secrets. Case settled after entry of preliminary injunction in favor of Intel.

Defense of trade secret misappropriation claim involving computer software code.

Represented Boeing in trade secret act lawsuit arising under the Air Force EELV program. 390 F. Supp. 2d 1073 (M.D. Fla. 2005) 

Defended group of engineers working on high-performance clock drivers who left Motorola to found a competing business, against claims that they violated fiduciary duties, engaged in unfair competition and would inevitably misappropriate trade secrets. Settled on favorable terms allowing new business to stay in operation.

Lead counsel for company and two individuals in defense of trade secret misappropriation claim. After expedited discovery, matter settled with mutual releases and payment by plaintiff to our client.

Represented Pensoft Corporation in breach of contract case involving information management software. Case settled favorably after plaintiff's case in chief.

Represented The Rank Organisation in case alleging trade dress infringement, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets in connection with the Rank Organisation's development and interest in Planet Hollywood; adjudication in Rank Organisation's favor on trade dress infringement and misappropriation of trade dress secrets; settled remaining allegations.

Successful prosecution of action to enforce a noncompete between PetSmart and a former pet grooming supervisor. After the action was filed the application for a temporary restraining order was argued, the former pet grooming supervisor was terminated by the national competitor that had hired him and he agreed to abide by the terms of his noncompete agreement.

Represented E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company in plant genetics trade secret action.

Defense of trade secrets action brought by advertising agency's former client. (2001)

Represented defendant d/b/a as NetLogic in trade secret theft (inevitable disclosure) case relating to Content Addressable Memory (CAM) designs. Case settled favorably prior to trial.

Represented Mitsubishi in patent infringement, trade secret misappropriation, commercial bribery and tortious interference actions involving the equipment supplied at Three Gorges Dam in Yichang, China.  Won four motions for summary judgment (two in Illinois and two in Oregon). The favorable ruling on the patent claim was affirmed by the Federal Circuit and the commercial bribery and tortious interference judgments were affirmed by the Ninth Circuit.  The Ninth Circuit decision in essence revised Ninth Circuit law based on a recent U.S. Supreme Court case cited.  348 F. 3d 1116 (9th Cir. 2003); 215 F. 3d 1246 (Fed. Cir. 2000).

Represented Screenlife in action alleging trade secret misappropriation and unfair competition.

Injunction against violation of non-compete, theft of software, trade secrets.

Injunction against violation of non-compete, theft of trade secrets.

Represented Spectrum Astro Inc. in a trade secret misappropriation case regarding the design of satellite subsystems, including command and data handling, data acquisition software, ground support equipment, power design and development and test tools. Case settled.

Theft of trade secrets. 8 F. App'x. 196, 2001 WL 434586 (4th Cir. 2001)

Represented TPC in trade secret litigation.

Defense of claims for violation of the Illinois Trade Secrets Act and breach of post-employment restrictive covenants. Settled. (2007)

Arbitration before American Arbitration Association. Prosecution of action to enforce restrictive covenants in asset purchase agreement. Settled. (2000)

Counsel for departing employee in trade secret and breach of contract action. Settled.

Successful enforcement of noncompetition agreement involving silicone injection technology for buried power cable life extension. Six-week trial resulted in verdict for UTILX and entry of injunction extending and enforcing noncompetition against defendant Bertini.  No. 03-2-14593-9 KNT

Represented defendant Amazon.com in inevitable disclosure trade secret case regarding data warehousing and other computer technologies. Case settled following successful pretrial motions.

Prosecuted trade secret misappropriation case against former employees.

Engaged as trial counsel for Wrapsidy three months before trial in state action concerning trade secret misappropriation, unfair competition, tortious interference and breach of contract actions related to Wrapsidy’s ratings data analysis software.

Lead trial counsel for Hitron Americas Inc. and its former officers in litigation involving various claims including misappropriation of trade secrets and unfair competition.  The alleged misappropriation of trade secrets involving the cable modem industry.