Trade Secrets

Although intellectual property’s “big three” are patents, copyrights, and trademarks, just as valuable is the fourth category:  trade secrets. We counsel our clients in taking steps to prove reasonable measures have been taken to protect confidential commercial information. When our clients are threatened with trade secret claims, we work with them in formulating effective defensive strategies. We have litigated complex trade secret cases including claims arising under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulations (DFARs).

Smith Gambrell & Russell intellectual property litigators led the committee that drafted the version of the Uniform Trade Secrets Act adopted in Georgia in 1990, and we have litigated numerous cases under both the Georgia Act and other state’s laws for the past two decades.

Representative Matters

• Recently represented a vaccine manufacturer against claims of trade secret misappropriation after it hired a key employee of a competitor and we achieved a non-monetary settlement of the matter.
• Successfully represented a major radar manufacturer/defense contractor against allegations of misappropriation of trade secrets in a case that implicated the U.S. government and the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulations.
• In a Florida federal case involving the theft of computerized databases, we successfully enjoined the defendants, a former officer of our client and his new company, from using or possessing trade secret data acquired from our client.  The case was brought under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and Florida trade secret law, and we secured the return of all data taken from our client.
• In Chicago, Illinois we successfully defended our clients, a corporation and a former employee of the plaintiff, in a case involving the operation of a unique machine for bending tempered glass.  The plaintiff’s Motion for Preliminary Injunction was denied and the case settled without payment of monetary damages.
• In a complex case involving allegations of misappropriation of a secret formula and process for the manufacture of a poultry vaccine, we successfully defended our client against the entry of injunctive relief.