Category Archives: trade secrets
Are ‘Trade Secrets’ Just Unpatented Intellectual Property?
A ‘trade secret’ is a term that may be more associated with lore than the legal world, however trade secrets are real and play a significant role in business and intellectual property law. Trade secrets refer to valuable and confidential information that provides a competitive advantage to a business and are intangible assets not… Read More »
Florida Court Rules Against Uber in Trade Secret Dispute
Businesses have the legal ability to protect certain valuable information as ‘trade secrets’. There are often disputes over what types of information can be protected by trade secret laws. A recent case involving Uber raised a very interesting question: Can a private company protect sensitive business information as a trade secret if that information… Read More »
Getting an Injunction for Trade Secret Misappropriation
Under Florida law (Chapter 688), trade secrets are entitled to certain legal protections. As a business owner or operator, you need to be able to protect your company’s valuable trade secrets against any type of unlawful use. If you have been a victim of trade secret misappropriation, it is imperative that you speak to… Read More »
Defending a Trade Secret Misappropriation Allegation
Trade secret misappropriation can lead to very serious consequences. Your company might face a misappropriation claim for many reasons, from the careless actions of a single employee to a good faith misunderstanding or even simply because another business is taking illegitimate legal action. If you, or your company, has been accused of trade secret… Read More »
President Obama Signs the ‘Defend Trade Secrets’ Act
The Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) of 2016 was recently signed into law by President Barack Obama. The legislation gives companies important new trade secret related legal protections. Under the DTSA, companies may now bring a federal cause of action for trade secret misappropriation. Prior to the signing of this legislation, trade secrets were… Read More »
What Qualifies As A Trade Secret?
Trade secrets can include a wide variety of confidential business information. Ranging from scientific formulas and computer codes to marketing plans and pricing strategies, these truly innovative ideas are often among a company’s most valuable assets. The law allows for these ideas to be protected as trade secrets. It gives businesses a real incentive… Read More »
Franchise Litigation and Florida’s “Little FTC Act”
While we have discussed the basics of franchise law in a prior post, it is important to talk about some of the common issues that cause franchise litigation. Understanding some of these concepts may be the key to prevention of costly litigation or a source of information for pending litigation. In the event that… Read More »
Is Trade Secret Protection Right for Your Business?
Modern businesses have begun to realize that some of their most important assets are completely intangible, things like business reputation or innovative ways of doing things. This has led more and more companies to begin seeking intellectual property protection for their ideas in order to gain an edge over their competitors. When people begin… Read More »
Intellectual Property Protection for Restaurants
Restaurant owners often wonder about whether they can use the intellectual property (IP) system to stop competitors from stealing their recipes. The answer, as with so many things in law, is that it is complicated. American IP is divided into four categories: patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets. These each protect their own types… Read More »
