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Joint Ventures and Strategic Partnerships After the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016
American companies, and foreign companies doing business in the United States, routinely collaborate with outside entities in mutually beneficial joint ventures and strategic partnerships. In that process, however, these companies can risk losing protection for their critical trade secrets to outsiders.
Although misappropriation of a trade secret by a joint venture partner is not the most common form of this kind of theft, misappropriation in its various forms is a significant issue in the American business community. The Congressional Research Service estimated in April 2016 that “U.S. companies annually suffer billions of dollars in losses due to the theft of their trade secrets.” In 2013, then-U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder reportedly stated that “there are only two categories of companies affected by trade secret theft: those that know they've been compromised and those that don't know yet.” In fact, in an editorial in Politico earlier this year, U.S. Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Chris Coons (D-DE) estimated that “trade secrets are worth $5 trillion to the U.S. economy.”
Despite the scale of this issue, prior to May 11, 2016, companies could only enforce their trade secrets rights through state laws and in state court. There was no federal cause of action for trade secret appropriation. This changed on May 11, 2016, however, when the President signed the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) (which became effective that day).
Major Differences In UK, U.S. Copyright Laws
This article highlights how copyright law in the United Kingdom differs from U.S. copyright law, and points out differences that may be crucial to entertainment and media businesses familiar with U.S law that are interested in operating in the United Kingdom or under UK law. The article also briefly addresses contrasts in UK and U.S. trademark law.
The Article 8 Opt In
The Article 8 opt-in election adds an additional layer of complexity to the already labyrinthine rules governing perfection of security interests under the UCC. A lender that is unaware of the nuances created by the opt in (may find its security interest vulnerable to being primed by another party that has taken steps to perfect in a superior manner under the circumstances.
Strategy vs. Tactics: Two Sides of a Difficult Coin
With each successive large-scale cyber attack, it is slowly becoming clear that ransomware attacks are targeting the critical infrastructure of the most powerful country on the planet. Understanding the strategy, and tactics of our opponents, as well as the strategy and the tactics we implement as a response are vital to victory.
Legal Possession: What Does It Mean?
Possession of real property is a matter of physical fact. Having the right or legal entitlement to possession is not "possession," possession is "the fact of having or holding property in one's power." That power means having physical dominion and control over the property.
The Anti-Assignment Override Provisions
UCC Sections 9406(d) and 9408(a) are one of the most powerful, yet least understood, sections of the Uniform Commercial Code. On their face, they appear to override anti-assignment provisions in agreements that would limit the grant of a security interest. But do these sections really work?