Employees sometimes raid their employer’s trade secrets prior to quitting so that they may have an advantage starting up their own business or in their employment with a competitor. An aggrieved employer may sue under the Florida Uniform Trade Secrets Act (FUTSA) to recover those trade secrets and for any damages arising from the theft…
Continue reading ›Business litigation between competitors often involves discovery of information that may be subject to trade secret protection. Parties will often enter stipulations for confidentiality orders to protect the information from third-party disclosure, however that may not protect a business from the damage caused by their competitor’s access to that information. Businesses must ensure that trial…
Continue reading ›Florida law permits a business to seek an injunction when its trade secrets have been misappropriated. This can be a deceptively complex process for companies that are not familiar with trade secret law. To prevail on a motion for a temporary injunction, a plaintiff must not only show that what was taken qualifies as a…
Continue reading ›Businesses in highly competitive industries often create and maintain highly confidential business information and trade secrets. Businesses spend substantial amounts of money curating this confidential information. To protect this investment, businesses must take steps to ensure the continued secrecy of its confidential information, such as limiting access and requiring employees with access to sign confidentiality…
Continue reading ›It is a common mistake in trade secret litigation for the company seeking protection for its trade secrets to fail to explain what trade secrets it wishes to protect. Courts require that plaintiffs describe their trade secret with a certain degree of particularity. Failing to do that can be fatal to trade secret claims. Peter…
Continue reading ›Plaintiffs may be tempted to bring as many causes of action into a legal complaint that the facts may allow. Diversity of causes of action in business litigation can provide the plaintiff with different types of remedies and help a suit endure should a legal defect arise concerning any particular cause of action. However, cases…
Continue reading ›A previous article discussed how it is unlawful under the Florida Uniform Trade Secrets Act (FUTSA) to take a trade secret using “improper means.” As technology has developed, new methods of commercial reconnaissance can make it difficult to determine whether method was lawful acquisition or unlawful espionage. Peter Mavrick is a Fort Lauderdale business litigation…
Continue reading ›The Florida Uniform Trade Secrets Act (FUTSA) allows Florida businesses who have had their trade secrets misappropriated to seek damages or an injunction against the perpetrator of the misappropriation. For the acquisition to be an unlawful misappropriation, the confidential information must usually have been acquired through “improper means.” It is lawful for a Florida business…
Continue reading ›Trade secrets and confidential information can lose protection under the Florida Uniform Trade Secrets Act (FUTSA) when they are disclosed to third parties. One way to maintain protection of this information under FUTSA, is by entering into a confidentiality agreement with the third parties that will receive the information. When trade secrets or confidential information…
Continue reading ›For a trade secret to be protectable under Florida law, a business must protect that information as confidential. Disclosure of trade secret information to parties without an understanding that the information must be protected as confidential can cause that information to no longer be a protectable trade secret. In the absence of an express confidentiality…
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