Trade Secrets

McDermott’s multidisciplinary teams handle complex trade secrets issues that intersect with multiple areas of law, including:

• Antitrust
• Appellate
• Employee mobility
• Executive compensation
• Intellectual property
• Investigations
• Litigation
• Privacy and cybersecurity

Included among our core, cross-practice team are lawyers who have extensive experience negotiating, defending, and prosecuting restrictive covenant agreements, have technical backgrounds in engineering and science, and are former high-ranking US federal prosecutors and government officials. We combine deep knowledge of US and international trade secrets laws with industry-specific best practices to help you strengthen your competitive advantage.

Capabilities

Counseling and Risk Management

We provide innovative and holistic counseling designed to safeguard your trade secrets and help you implement a strategic restrictive covenant approach. To protect the proprietary information that gives you a competitive edge, our trade secrets team:

• Drafts and advises on existing employment agreements that include restrictive covenants related to noncompete, nondisclosure, and nonsolicitation
• Advises on the hiring of potential employees with noncompete, nondisclosure, and nonsolicitation restrictions
• Drafts privacy agreements to help prevent theft of your trade secrets and other confidential information
• Develops trade secrets policies and advises on security measures
• Develops and advises on existing protocols and implementing new protocols to avoid any potential trade secrets theft during the hiring, onboarding, and exit of high-level and C-suite executives and newly hired teams
• Negotiates with high-level and C-suite executives’ prior employers on existing agreements
• Conducts risk assessments, including in the context of M&A deals and other high-value transactions

Disputes and Litigation

When trade secrets are stolen, disputes arise related to restrictive covenants, or a government investigation ensues, our seasoned trial and appellate lawyers develop effective enforcement and defense strategies aimed at protecting your business and your reputation.

We have won hundreds of trade secrets cases before US state and federal courts, in arbitration, before the US International Trade Commission (ITC), and before several international tribunals. We have successfully prosecuted and defended trade secrets cases involving a wide range of legal claims, including:

• Breach of contract
• Breach of fiduciary duty
• Breach of noncompete and nonsolicitation agreements
• Data privacy
• Large-scale raiding
• Tortious interference
• Trade secret misappropriation
• Unfair competition

Moreover, our trade secrets litigators have significant knowledge of and experience defending against government prosecution under US trade secrets laws, including the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (UTSA), Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), Economic Espionage Act (EEA), and Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA). Additionally, with the European Union introducing Directive 2016/943, and Japan, Russia, China, and other countries taking similar steps to protect trade secrets, our team is well versed in the evolving international regulatory landscape and can help you navigate potential challenges.

When a trade secrets dispute arises, our lawyers swiftly pursue appropriate action to protect your business interests, whether that involves emergency provisional relief, critical motion practice, or going to trial.

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