Readers of this blog may recall our discussion of a “bad faith” attorney’s fees award made by the trial court in the Aerotek v. The Johnson Group case. To view a copy of our previous post, click here. As a refresher, Aerotek sued its former employee and that former employer’s new employer claiming misappropriation
trade secret misappropriation
Attorney Fee Awards in Trade Secret Cases and “Local Community” Rates
By James Kachmar on
Posted in Trade Secrets and Competition
As readers of this blog may know, a party prevailing in a trade secret misappropriation case may be entitled to reasonable attorney’s fees if that party can show either that the claim was brought by the plaintiff in bad faith or that the defendant was guilty of willful and malicious misappropriation. The award of attorney’s…
The Truth About the “Exceptional” Remedy
By Charles L. Post on
Posted in Trade Secrets and Competition
It is a truism that preliminary injunctions are “rare” and “exceptional” remedies. But rarity is context specific. As a percentage of cars made, Cobra GTs are rare. If you are standing in the plant where they are made, however, they are anything but rare. So, while it may well be true that preliminary injunctions, as…
Downloading is Not Necessarily Misappropriating
By James Kachmar on
Posted in Trade Secrets and Competition
One of the key pieces of evidence a plaintiff in a trade secret case usually looks for is the downloading of company information from its computers prior to a former employee departing and joining a competitor. Generally, this “smoking gun” type of evidence shows that the employee on his or her last day accesses and…
Another Non-Compete Held Unenforceable
By James Kachmar on
Posted in Trade Secrets and Competition
Under California law, non-compete provisions with an employee are generally unenforceable. Statutory exceptions to this rule include the seller of a business’s goodwill or a membership interest in an LLC. Courts have also recognized a judicial exception to this rule: where the non-compete is necessary to protect an employer’s trade secret information. This judicial exception…