Trade Secrets and Non-Compete Agreements

Scope

 * Use this page to list sources related to trade secrets that have a connection to software or the internet or to non-compete agreements in the technology industry.

News / Editorial

 * Kim Zetter, Goldman Sachs Programmer Found Guilty of Stealing Code, Wired (Dec. 10, 2010)
 * Jordon Robertson, HP, Hurd settlement over Oracle gig, USA Today (Sep. 21, 2010) (Hurd has agreed to relinquish $14 million in HP stock to clear his way to work for Oracle.)
 * Thomas Catan and Brent Kendall, U.S. Tech Probe Nears End, The Wall Street Journel (Sep. 17, 2010) (Rather than worrying about non-compete agreements, big Silicon Valley firms were colluding not to poach each others 'star' employees. The DoJ investigates whether this is fair.)
 * Chris Kanaracus, Update: HP sues Hurd over confidentiality issues, ComputerWorld (Sep. 7, 2010) (Former HP CEO goes to work for the competition: Oracle - HP is claiming this violates his severance agreement and may lead to misappropriation of trade secrets. The claim was filed in Santa Clara, California).
 * Ashlee Vance, H.P. Files Suit Against Former Chief, New York Times (Sep. 7, 2010) (HP loses no time in suing Oracle, as ex-CEO Mark Hurd appointed Oracle co-president).
 * DouglasMacMillan,Ex-Googler Lee Backs China Companies to Foster Startup Culture, Bloomberg Businessweek (Sep. 3, 2010) (Kai-Fu Lee, who headed Google Inc.'s Chinese division is investing in a mobile-software maker and 11 other businesses in China after meeting with 500 young startups. Lee’s venture capital company Innovation Works has raised $115 million to fund startups.)
 * Steve Orlofsky, EBay and Craigslist battle heads to court, Reuters (Dec 3, 2009) (eBay claims Craigslist improperly diluted it's ownership share from 28.4 to 24.85 to force their removal from Board; Craigslist claims eBay was using its seat to steal trade secrets and launch competing classifieds service).
 * Howard Mintz, Federal jury deadlocks on most of espionage case against two Silicon Valley engineers, SiliconValley.com (Nov. 20, 2009) (Jury unconvinced trade secrets involved in rare prosecution under Economic Espionage Act of 1996).
 * Elinor Mills, Microsoft, ex-worker settle claims, CNet.com (Nov. 17, 2009).
 * Aulia Masna, Barnes and Noble sued over Nook intellectual property, MacWorld (Nov. 3, 2009) (Sprint Design, e-book reader developer (think Kindle), claims Barnes & Nobles misrepresented collaboration in developing Nook).
 * Pamela Jones, Apple and Psystar respond to the other's summary judgment motion and fight about sealing documents, Groklaw.com (Oct. 26, 2009) (Psystar, apple-clone developer, trying to use court process to reveal Apple trade secrets).
 * Ritsuko Ando, Skype founders file new lawsuit vs Volpi, Index, Reuters (Sep. 18, 2009) (Skype founders sue Michelango Volpi and Index Ventures for misappropriated confidential information and orchestrating buyout bid.).
 * Michael Arrington, Zynga Accuses Playdom of Stealing Trade Secrets; Judge Issues Temporary Restraining Order, TechCrunch (Sept. 10, 2010) (Zynga Sues Playdom over what they call misleading advertisements.)
 * David Barboza, Leaving Google, Executive to Back Chinese Start-Ups, New York Times (Sep. 7, 2009) (Head of Google's Chinese operations, Kai-Fu Lee leaves for chinese start-up incubator).
 * Jordan Weissmann, Foley & Lardner Sued for Allegedly Revealing Trade Secrets, IP Law & Business (Aug. 25, 2009) (Patent firm Foley & Lardner sued for allegedly revealing trade secrets from SPH in separate filing).
 * Michael Elkon, First Apple, Now Dell: IBM Pursues a Departing Executive, Trading Secrets (Jul. 13, 2009) (IBM tries to prevent David Johnson from leaving for Dell. One problem.  He intentionally signed non-compete on wrong line).
 * Henry K. Lee, Two indicted over theft of arcade software, San Francisco Chronicle (Jul. 10, 2009) (Employees of arcade-game manufacturer steal rom-burner, sell counterfeits from home.).
 * AP, NJ man charged with stealing Goldman Sachs data, Seattle Times (Jul. 6, 2009).
 * Michael Elkon, Georgia’s New Non-Compete Statute and its Potential Effect on Technology Companies, Technology Law Section - State Bar of Georgia (Jun. 5, 2009) (Georgia's byzantine non-compete/non-solicitation/non-disclosure agreements reformed).
 * Apple, Mark Papermaster to Begin at Apple as Senior Vice President of Devices Hardware Engineering on April 24 (Jan. 27, 2009) (Mark Papermaster begins work at Apple).
 * Jason Ryan, Man Charged in $1B Intel Trade Secrets Case, ABC News (Nov. 6, 2008) (Intel design engineer steals trade secrets during simultaneous employment with AMD and Intel).
 * Thomas Claburn, Former HP Exec Pleads Guilty To Stealing IBM Secrets Information Week (Jul. 11, 2008) (IBM "Director of Sales and Business Development in Output Management Services for IBM Global Services steals confidental docs, distributes in email with subject. "For Your Eyes Only").
 * Janet Siegel, Federal Court in California Imposes Maximum Sentence Under Plea Deal In First Ever Sentencing Under the Economic Espionage Act of 1996, Trading Secrets (Jun. 20, 2008) (Employee of Quantum3D steals software, displays to foreign governments as product of Chinese competitor).
 * Dawn Mertineit, Chicago Area Woman Indicted for Theft of Trade Secrets Intended for China, Trading Secrets (Apr. 7, 2008) (Employee secures job in China on sick leave, steals $600M worth of documents, caught at airport).
 * Alayna Demartini, Chemical Society loses lawsuit, Columbus Dispatch (Mar. 28, 2008).
 * Janet Siegel, Technology Company Employee Pleads Guilty to Stealing Trade Secrets to Sell to Foreign Governments, Trading Secrets (Mar. 17, 2008).
 * Intellectual Security, Two Men Plead Guilty To Stealing Trade Secrets From Silicon Valley, Intellectual Security (Dec. 15, 2006).
 * Chico Harlan, Trade secret plot pulls Coke, Pepsi together, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (July 7, 2006) (Coca-Cola employees try to sell trade secret recipe to Pepsi, Pepsi contacts Coke and federal authorities, set up sting operation).
 * Tricia Duryee, Microsoft, Google settle over ex-exec, Seattle Times (Dec. 23, 2005) (Kai-Fu Lee will work in China, Microsoft will fight recruitment from upper ranks).

Legal Briefs / Opinions / Statutes

 * Hewlett-Packard Co. v. Hurd, No. 110-CV-181699 (Cal. Sup. Ct. Sep. 7, 2010) (complaint).
 * Silvaco Data Systems v. Intel Corp., 184 Cal. App. 4th 210 (Cal. Ct. App. 2010) ("One does not, by executing machine-readable software, "use" the underlying source code; nor does one acquire the requisite knowledge of any trade secrets embodied in that code.").
 * R.C. Olmstead, Inc. v. CU Interface, LLC, (6th Cir. May 19, 2010) (Credit union software's interface was not a trade secret because no reasonable steps to protect the secrecy of the user interface were taken).
 * Justmed, Inc. v. Byce, No. 07-35861 (9th Cir. Apr. 5, 2010) (disclosure of source code to copyright office was not misappropriation by disclosure and merely refusing to return copies to former employer was not misappropriation through use, but may have constituted conversion).
 * Ansys, Inc. v. Computational Dynamics North America, Ltd., No. 09-2634 (1st Cir. Feb. 12, 2010) (affirming denial of preliminary injunction to enforce a non-compete clause where former employee going to work for competitor that has policy preventing employees from using confidential information acquired from prior employers, former employee had not been assigned and, in the near term would not be assigned to perform any work that might allow him to use any such information, and where any such information acquired would not be useful to competitor because of the different architecture of the two companies' respective software codes.).
 * Decision Insights, Inc. v. Sentia Group, Inc., No. 07-1596, 2009 U.S. App. LEXIS 2654, 2009 WL 367585 (4th Cir. Feb. 12, 2009).
 * IBM v. Papermaster, No. 08-9078, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 95516 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 21, 2008). (Papermaster, an IBM executive, would likely take secret IBM plans to Apple in his head when hired, and his non-compete agreement is enforceable.)
 * USA v. Pani No. 08-40034 (D. Mass. Nov. 5, 2008) (indictment).
 * Asset Mktg Sys. v. Gagnon, 542 F.3d 748 (9th Cir. 2008). (Code written by contractor not a secret if left on purchaser's machines.)
 * Cypress Semiconductor Corp. v. Superior Court, 163 Cal. App. 4th 575 (Cal. Ct. App. 2008). (Statute of limitations on a misappropriation case begins to run when the plaintiff has reason to suspect misappropriation)
 * NCR v. Warner, No. 08-00074 (S.D. Ohio Apr. 24, 2008).
 * Othentec Ltd. v. Phelan, 526 F.3d 135 (4th Cir. 2008) (to survive summary judgment on misappropriation of trade secrets claim objective evidence of use was required and allegations, speculation, and inference were not enough).
 * S. Nuclear Operating Co., Inc. v. Elec. Data Sys. Corp., 2008 WL 1700204 (11th Cir. Apr. 14, 2008).
 * Storage Tech. Corp. v. Custom Hardware Eng'g, 421 F.3d 1307 (Fed. Cir. 2005). (Watching symptoms in order to discover error codes not trade secret misappropriation.)

Scholarship

 * Mark Lemley, The Surprising Virtues of Treating Trade Secrets as IP Rights, 61 Stanford L. Rev. 311 (2008).