Trade Secrets
Complete Range of Trade Secrets Protection and Litigation Capabilities
Our interdisciplinary team of intellectual property, employment, and litigation attorneys delivers exceptional counsel and representation on all of the issues related to protecting and litigating trade secrets. Mintz attorneys have extensive trade secret experience before the U.S. International Trade Commission, U.S. district court, and state courts. Our attorneys litigate trade secret claims involving misappropriation, unfair competition, breach of contract, and non-compete agreements. And we have the technical capabilities and industry experience to litigate the complex scientific and technology issues that are often at the core of trade secret disputes.
Share Awards
IAM Strategy 300
Two attorneys recognized among "The World's Leading IP Strategists" (2017 - 2020)
Chambers USA
Intellectual Property Practice ranked in Massachusetts (2019)
IAM Patent 1000
Multiple patent litigators recognized (2015 ‒ 2020)
Our Approach
Trade secrets operate at the intersection of intellectual property law, employment and contract law. Most trade secret litigation begins with the departure of a valued employee to a competitor or misuse of information shared under a non-disclosure agreement. From that point on, however, trade secret litigation becomes a complex form of intellectual property litigation.
The successful prosecution and defense of trade secret cases therefore requires a unique and interdisciplinary legal skill set. The Mintz team handles everything from risk avoidance and pre-employment counseling, to the proactive identification, definition and protection of a company’s valuable trade secrets, to the preparation of temporary restraining orders and — when necessary — representation in court, from preliminary injunction proceedings through trial and appeal.
Our attorneys have successfully dealt with many trade secrets challenges, resolving most outside the courtroom. But we have also been very successful when we’ve had to go to trial. We've litigated numerous highly technical patent and trade secret cases, and have the demonstrated ability to understand complex technology while developing and presenting arguments that are both clear and accessible to judges and jurors.
Trade secrets are often a company’s most valuable intellectual property. Hard-earned know-how, gleaned from years of trial and error on the assembly line, can be priceless. Specifications and tolerances can be extremely valuable trade secret information. Similarly, customer lists and details can reflect years of accumulated learning. It is critical that companies systematically protect this critical information and take affirmative steps to prevent it from departing with former employees.
The protection of proprietary trade secret information, however, requires very different internal controls, compliance practices, and processes than patent protection. Information that cannot be protected by the patent laws often can be enforced as a trade secret. But whether a court will enforce your trade secret will turn on the nature and quality of your internal controls. Mintz has the expertise and experience to help you identify, define and protect your most valuable trade secrets.
The U.S. International Trade Commission has become one of the world’s leading fora for trade secret litigation. The agency’s rapid and powerful remedies, and extraterritorial reach, have allowed U.S. complainants to pursue trade secret misappropriation overseas. For example, Mintz counsel represented LG Chem in recent ITC trade secret litigation brought against SKI International for the misappropriation of technology relating to EV battery manufacturing technology. LG Chem won a default judgement and ITC exclusion orders directed to SKI’s imported supply chain of components and raw materials used in making batteries – and a $1.8 billion settlement.
Large corporations seek to strengthen their positions in the market by continually enhancing their products with cutting-edge innovations. To identify the best of the best means investing in or partnering with numerous innovator companies. Agreements to collaborate in this manner take a number of forms, and carry with them same risk – no matter the result of the collaboration, the smaller party to the deal has shared its trade secrets. Mintz has developed a focus on representing the interests of these innovators when the larger party is thought to have unfairly used those trade secrets. We have earned a reputation for being very successful representing the interests of innovators against some of the largest implementers in the world.
- Litigate under the Federal Defend Trade Secrets Act and Section 337 of the Tariff Act.
- Prosecute, defend, and try cases in state and federal courts and the USITC.
- Enforce trade secret protections under global collaboration agreements
- Identify and protect of trade secrets
- Counsel clients on unfair competition protections
- Develop and train on internal policies
- Work with insurers on IP and employment-related coverage issues
- Biotechnology
- Chemistry
- Communications systems
- Computer science
- Engineering
- EV battery technology
- Image processing
- Industrial assembly
- Pharmaceuticals
- Semiconductors
- Telecommunications
- U.S. International Trade Commission
- Eastern District of Texas
- Western District of Texas
- Southern District of California
- Northern District of California
- Central District of California
- District of Massachusetts
- Eastern District of New York
- Southern District of New York
- Others
Meet Mintz
Our interdisciplinary team of intellectual property, employment, and litigation attorneys delivers exceptional counsel and representation on issues related to protecting your intellectual capital.
Member / Chair, Intellectual Property Division
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