Trade Secrets & IP
Trade Secrets & Intellectual Property
Protecting confidential business information is one of the most critical challenges companies face today. Our trade secrets & intellectual property lawyers help businesses and individuals identify, protect, enforce, and defend their proprietary information, trade secrets, trademarks, and copyrights. We advise clients proactively and act quickly when disputes arise.
Trade Secret Protection & Restrictive Covenants
Our attorneys help clients safeguard trade secrets before issues occur and respond decisively when a former employee, business partner, or other party threatens valuable information.
Trade Secrets Audit
Through our proprietary Trade Secrets Audit, we help companies:
- Identify trade secrets and proprietary information
- Evaluate current protections and weak points
- Strengthen internal controls
- Improve hiring, onboarding, and exit procedures
- Draft or update NDAs and restrictive covenants (including noncompete, nonsolicitation, and nondisclosure agreements)
Litigation & Emergency Relief
When confidential information is threatened or misused, we pursue immediate and aggressive action. We represent clients in:
- Trade secret misappropriation claims
- Noncompete and nonsolicitation enforcement
- Emergency injunctions and TROs
- Breach of fiduciary duty and unfair competition disputes
Our IP lawyers have extensive experience litigating high-stakes matters involving former employees, competitors, and business partners.
Trademarks & Copyrights
We also manage trademark portfolios for domestic and international clients in technology, software, cryptocurrency, consumer products, and other industries.
IP Litigation
We represent rights holders in:
- Trademark infringement actions
- Copyright infringement disputes
- Unauthorized use of digital content or branding
Our Approach
We help clients avoid disputes whenever possible through strong policies, agreements, and internal processes. When litigation is unavoidable, our attorneys are prepared to act – seeking or defending against emergency relief and pursuing strategic outcomes in state and federal courts or arbitration.
For insights and updates, visit Eric Ostroff’s blog, Protecting Trade Secrets
REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS
- Representing a leading publisher of business content in a federal copyright infringement action involving the unauthorized republication of dozens of articles on a competing news site. Through early discovery, we are working to identify the responsible parties.
- Representing a national food supplier in litigation against its former president for breaching fiduciary duties by secretly working for a competitor and stealing proprietary information.
- Represented a senior executive in a trade secrets lawsuit brought by a major security company in the Southern District of Florida; successfully obtained dismissal of all claims.
- Represented the former CEO of a major insurance brokerage in a high-profile dispute involving restrictive covenants and trade secrets following his move to a competitor.
- Represented the purchaser of a lucrative landscaping business in two separate litigations against the seller of the business for breaches of fiduciary duties and restrictive covenant agreements.
- Represented Unity Jets in a trade secrets lawsuit brought by NetJets Aviation, Inc. in the Southern District of Ohio; settled on confidential terms.
- Represented a major luxury real estate brokerage in multiple trade secret and copyright disputes against former salespeople for violating restrictive covenants.
- Represented a U.K.-based manufacturer of spray-on protective coatings used globally in the construction industry in a federal lawsuit against a former U.S. distributor and related entities accused of stealing the product formula and manufacturing process. We asserted claims for misappropriation of trade secrets, conversion, and civil conspiracy; the case settled on confidential terms.
- Obtained a jury verdict for Crown Linen, LLC in a trade secrets and tortious interference lawsuit against a former sales director who launched a competing company using proprietary information.
- Represented a professional sports league in a trademark infringement action filed by a competing league in the Southern District of New York.
- Represented a major insurance company and obtained an emergency injunction against former employees who stole trade secrets.
- Represented a national staffing company in a JAMS arbitration against the company’s former president for trade secret misappropriation and breach of a noncompete agreement. Following a week-long trial, obtained a full judgment in favor of our client on all counts.
- Represented a leading national Medicare Advantage healthcare provider in a misappropriation of trade secrets and breach of contract lawsuit against a former regional medical director who joined a competitor. The case settled on confidential terms.
- Represented Glenn Beck, Mercury Radio Arts, Inc., and TheBlaze, Inc. in multiple litigations in Texas and Delaware against the companies’ former CEO for violating a restrictive covenant and breaching fiduciary duties.
- Represented an agriculture company in trade secrets and breach of contract litigation against a former employee.
- Represented a leading secondary-market sports and event ticketing company in litigation against its former CTO in a trade secrets dispute.
- Represented a medical supplies company in litigation and arbitration asserting trade secrets claims against a former business partner.
- Represented the former CEO of a multibillion-dollar insurance company in restrictive covenant litigation with his former employer.
- Represented an electronics company in competitor-initiated trade secret misappropriation litigation.
- Represented an international security company in a noncompete dispute with a competitor.
- Represented clients in industries including healthcare, agriculture, construction materials, medical supplies, and electronics in high-stakes trade secret and restrictive covenant litigation.