An employee of a Bay Areas executive recruiting firm who left to start his own firm was sentenced to one year in prison after being found guilty of trade secret theft and unauthorized computer access crimes. David Nosal was a former managing director at Korn/Ferry International and left in 2004 to start his own firm.
Employers: Act Fast or Weaken Your Trade Secret Case
When one or more of your key employees leaves to join a competitor and begins soliciting your customers, one of your strongest weapons under California’s trade secret laws is the ability to obtain an immediate temporary restraining order to stop your former employee and his or new employer from unlawfully competing against you. Many trade
Trade Secret Preemption Revisited
This blog has periodically visited the issue of preemption in trade secret cases. Preemption arises when a plaintiff alleges common law causes of action (such as conversion or interference with economic relations) with a trade secret misappropriation claim that is based on the “same nucleus of facts.” California courts have repeatedly held that California’s Uniform
“Animosity” Is Not Bad Faith For Attorneys’ Fees In Trade Secret Cases
Prior blog posts have addressed the issue of when a court may award attorneys’ fees in a trade secret misappropriation case. Under the California trade secret statute, the court may award attorneys’ fees where there has been a willful and malicious misappropriation of plaintiff’s trade secrets or when a trade secret misappropriation claim is brought
A Reminder to Employers of the Need for Social Media Policies
Those of you who attended our seminar on protecting confidential and trade secret information last Spring may recall our discussion about a trade secret misappropriation case involving a Twitter account. In that case, PhoneDog v. Kravitz, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 129229 (N.D. Cal. 2011), a product news and review company, PhoneDog, claimed it issued