Making a “Federal Case” Out of It Pennsylvania courts have long recognized a claim for theft (or “misappropriation”) of a trade secret pursuant to both PA common law (judge-made law) and the PA legislature’s adoption of the Uniform Trade Secret Act. But those are state law claims. The Plaintiff might…
Punitive Damages For Stealing Information? UPDATE
In a key trade secret case this year, the Pennsylvania Supreme court found acceptable a ratio of punitive damages to actual damages that was arguably 11.2:1 (with punitive damages totaling over 10 times the amount of compensatory damages), which would therefore violate the Due Process Clause of the US Constitution and…
Court: No Protection For Spreadsheet
Investment Analyst Sues BNY Mellon and Deloitte for Using His “Trade Secret” On October 6, 2023, an Investment analyst learned a hard lesson about trade secret law. Anyone who creates technology for another — such a spreadsheet system for picking stocks — can lose the rights to such information. No…
Information War: Allstate Insurance
Battles in the Insurance Industry There is an ongoing information war throughout the insurance industry between the big insurance companies and their sales agents. The battles are taking place in state and federal court in every state, involving work restriction disputes and claims of “trade secret” theft or misappropriation. There’s…
Pittsburgh Company in Federal Court: Protected Info Stolen?
Our Pittsburgh lawyers keep a close watch on decisions that impact Pennsylvania law regarding noncompete agreements and trade secret disputes. As we have previously written, changes are coming to PA law — to possibly eliminate the enforcement of non-compete agreement. With this, employers will pivot from employment restriction enforcement to…
Update on FTC Trade Restriction Ban: No Vote Until 2024
UPDATE: On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission has banned enforcement of noncompete agreements in employer-employee contracts. Click here for more. This article had been written prior to the ban. Status of the FTC’s Coming Ban on Trade Restriction Clauses Our Pittsburgh noncompete law firm has previously reported…
Confidential Info Protection: Waiver By Sharing with the Gov’t?
Effect of Sharing Trade Secrets with the Government Our Pittsburgh lawyers have blogged extensively about how an employer’s “secret” information will fall short of “trade secret” classification, unless the employer can show it had taken steps to develop and protect the “secret.” In other words, yours is no longer the…
Status of FTC Ban on Employment Restriction (May 2023)
UPDATE: On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission has banned enforcement of noncompete agreements in employer-employee contracts. Click here for more. This article had been written prior to the ban. Our Pittsburgh lawyers have previously updated you on the status of the coming Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ban…
Solicitation of Clients & Employees | Pittsburgh Lawyers Explain
Non-Solicitation Claims & Defenses in PA Our Pittsburgh lawyers litigate “non-solicitation” agreements. Often, an employer will write to — or file a lawsuit against — an employee for “soliciting” the employer’s customers, clients, or employees. “Todd is a fantastic Lawyer.” ★★★★★ By Sheri B. What is “Solicitation”? A worker bound…
Pittsburgh Lawyer | Trade Secret Claims and Defenses
A Trade Secret in Pennsylvania Misappropriating a trade secret can expose you to a claim for compensatory and punitive damages plus the Plaintiff’s attorney fees. You should talk to a Pittsburgh lawyer at our firm if anyone threatens a “trade secret” claim against you. “[Mr. Elliott is] The Complete Package”…
