Übersicht

Trade secrets and confidential business information are often among a company’s most valuable assets. In the competitive and mobile business environment, companies face growing risks from employee mobility, business partner disputes, cyber incidents, reverse engineering, and the unauthorized use or disclosure of proprietary information. Protecting these assets requires a strategic approach that balances business objectives, workforce considerations, and legal risk.

Mayer Brown’s Trade Secrets team helps clients identify, protect, manage, and enforce their trade secret rights across jurisdictions and industries. Drawing on the experience of lawyers across our Intellectual Property, Employment, Litigation, Technology, and Global Investigations practices, we provide practical counsel on developing and maintaining effective trade secret protection programs, safeguarding confidential information in commercial relationships, and mitigating risks associated with employee movement and business transactions.

When trade secret disputes arise, our team acts swiftly to help clients investigate potential misappropriation, preserve critical evidence, seek emergency relief when necessary, and pursue or defend claims in arbitration and before courts around the world. Our lawyers regularly handle matters involving employee departures, competitor disputes, joint venture and business partner conflicts, temporary restraining orders (TROs), preliminary and permanent injunctions, restrictive covenant enforcement, reverse engineering allegations, and complex electronic discovery (e-discovery) issues.

By combining preventive counseling with sophisticated litigation capabilities, Mayer Brown provides clients with a comprehensive and coordinated approach to protecting the intellectual capital that drives innovation and competitive advantage.

IP Litigation
We represent clients in high-stakes trade secret disputes worldwide, pursuing and defending claims involving misappropriation, ownership disputes, reverse engineering, and theft of confidential business information while seeking injunctive relief and substantial damages.
Employment Litigation
We help employers protect trade secrets through restrictive covenants, confidentiality agreements, employee mobility strategies, and litigation arising from the misuse or disclosure of proprietary information by current and former employees.
Commercial Litigation
We litigate complex business disputes involving trade secret misappropriation, breaches of confidentiality obligations, unfair competition, and other matters that threaten a company’s competitive advantage and valuable intellectual assets.

White Collar & Investigations
We conduct sensitive internal investigations into the theft, misuse, or unauthorized disclosure of trade secrets and confidential information, helping clients assess risk, preserve evidence, and respond quickly to potential wrongdoing.
Cybersecurity & Data Privacy
We advise clients on protecting sensitive proprietary information through governance, compliance, and incident-response strategies designed to reduce the risk of trade secret loss, cyber theft, and unauthorized access to critical business data.
Antitrust & Public Policy
We leverage our integrated antitrust and intellectual property capabilities to advise on the competition law implications of licensing arrangements, non-compete provisions, confidentiality agreements, and other measures used to protect trade secrets.

Experience

Chemicals & Advanced Materials

Represented Vantage Specialty Chemicals and Mallet & Company in a trade secret misappropriation action, securing a unanimous jury verdict, permanent injunctive relief, and $20.4 million in damages, fees, interest, and costs. The injunction included a production and sales ban on a competitor’s key product.
Represented BASF in a trade secret and breach of contract litigation arising from advanced battery technology developed through a collaboration agreement. The matter is at the intersection of trade secret protection, patent rights, and advanced battery technologies.

Consumer Products

Resolved a dispute on behalf of Design Ideas Limited involving allegations of trade secret misappropriation, trademark infringement, and unfair competition stemming from a joint venture involving decorative gel polymer products. The matter required analysis of trade secret, trademark, and antitrust laws across multiple jurisdictions internationally.
Represented Nestlé USA in a five-year dispute with Mars, Inc. involving competing claims of global trade secret misappropriation, unfair competition, and tortious interference. The matter was resolved through mediation shortly before trial.

Energy

Defended Hudson Clean Energy Partners against allegations of unfair competition, tortious interference, and misconduct related to the hiring of an executive from a competitor. We achieved an early favorable settlement that allowed the executive to remain employed by the client.
Prosecuted bet-the-company trade secret and breach of fiduciary duty litigation for a Fortune 150 energy company, obtaining a significant settlement at the eve of trial.

Industrials, Manufacturing & Transportation

Represented Faiveley Transport in a trade secret misappropriation case against Wabtec involving manufacturing drawings for train brake components, securing a jury verdict of $18.1 million. The Second Circuit largely affirmed the award, resulting in a $15 million judgment plus interest, one of the largest reported trade secret damages awards in New York.
Defended UAL Corporation and United Airlines (collectively “United”) against allegations made by Applied Transport Solutions, Inc. that United misappropriated trade secrets and breached a confidentiality agreement related to a proposed door-to-door baggage service program. The claims arose from a proposed business relationship and joint venture opportunity presented by the plaintiff.

Life Sciences & Medical Devices

Representing RadioMedix in litigation involving trade secret misappropriation, patent fraud, and breach of fiduciary duty claims related to proprietary radiopharmaceutical technology used in cancer treatment. The matter includes allegations of theft of confidential technology and efforts to commercialize competing products.
Represented Nestlé Skin Health S.A. in litigation against a senior executive accused of misappropriating trade secrets and violating a non-compete agreement following departure from a former employer. We conducted a comprehensive internal investigation and successfully resolved the matter during the early stages of the dispute.
Defended Amgen against claims of trade secret misappropriation involving healthcare data analysis methodologies. We defeated an ex parte TRO request, and the matter subsequently settled on favorable terms.

Technology, Media & Telecommunications

Represented BOE Technology Group in a high-stakes International Trade Commission investigation involving alleged OLED trade secret misappropriation. The matter was resolved through a global settlement that terminated multiple patent and trade secret disputes across jurisdictions.
Representing BMW in a cross-border trade secrets dispute involving allegations of misappropriation of confidential information related to in-car infotainment technology. We successfully obtained dismissal of claims based on a German forum selection clause, with related proceedings continuing on appeal.
Represented Atomic FI, Inc. in a trade secret misappropriation lawsuit alleging that source code was copied from a competitor based on the presence of purported “honeypot” code. Following an evidentiary hearing that included examination of multiple witnesses and cross-examination of the plaintiff’s chief technology officer, Mayer Brown successfully defeated motions for a temporary restraining order and expedited discovery.
Represented Avago Technologies Limited, Avago Technologies U.S., Inc., and Avago Wireless IP (collectively “Avago”) in a trade secret, patent infringement, copyright, and antitrust dispute against TriQuint involving radio frequency components used in mobile devices. After uncovering evidence that TriQuint employees had deleted information relevant to Avago’s trade secret claims, the matter settled on highly favorable terms before trial.
Represented Cassidian Communications in a trade secret lawsuit against a former employee who allegedly downloaded hundreds of confidential files before joining a competitor. We obtained immediate injunctive relief restricting use of the materials and ultimately secured a permanent injunction limiting the employee’s work to non-competing areas and territories outside the United States.
Represented Telecommunications Systems in trade secret and restrictive covenant litigation involving a former employee who joined a competitor. After entering the matter shortly before trial, we successfully negotiated a resolution requiring compliance with non-compete obligations and imposing restrictions on the employee’s competitive activities.
Defended the Big Ten Conference in federal and state lawsuits regarding the development of the Big Ten Network. We secured dismissal of claims of trade secret misappropriation in violation of the Illinois Trade Secrets Act and fraudulent registration of trademarks under the Lanham Act, and successfully defended those victories through appeal.
Represented Plant Equipment Inc. and Dialogic Communications Corporation in a lawsuit alleging trade secret theft, breach of confidentiality agreements, and interference, against former employees and their new employer. Through computer forensic evidence establishing misappropriation of communications systems information, we achieved a favorable settlement through a confidential mediation.

A Half-Baked Scandal

We won a hard-fought jury trial for our client, Mallet & Company, after a competing startup company stole trade secrets to recreate and sell our client’s signature baking release agents under the competitor’s name.