Trade secrets disputes are predominantly business disputes that involve insider misappropriation, whether from an employee, a vendor, or a contractor. While the alleged malfeasance typically involves computer use, it can be contrasted to an external cyber-attack. These cases instead allege a betrayal of trust that can often become emotional for all parties. Given the technical and logistical complexity of these matters, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) can support a faster and more effective result to trade secret conflicts and help protect the secrecy of the trade secrets. Panelist and Chair of the Baker McKenzie Trade Secret Practice, Brad Newman, makes the distinction between soft intellectual property, such as customer lists, pricing, and employee lists, and hard intellectual property, unpatented but technical trade secrets, such as financial algorithms or applicable technology in electric vehicles and artificial intelligence. This webinar will serve as an opportunity for attorneys to learn from expert practitioners why in some cases, such as disputes over soft IP, ADR may be a more effective choice than litigation.
In this webinar, our expert panelists begin by reviewing what trade secrets are and why they become the subject of litigation. Next, our speakers discuss the Defense of Trade Secret Act and the remedies it offers to trade secret owners, reflecting on its strengths and weaknesses. Our intellectual property experts then dive into the existing divide among courts and jurisdictions regarding trade secret identification requirements. Finally, our panel of leading practitioners shares how ADR serves as a key resource for plaintiffs and defendants in trade secret cases, in the face of expensive and drawn-out litigations, and a way to access subject matter experts.
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