11 posts and columns on trade secrets

Western Digital Would Like to Reformat Seagate Damages Award

in News on November 21, 2011 at 10:58 am PT

Western Digital ordered to pay Seagate $525 million in damages for misappropriation of trade secrets.
Raging-Bull

Google Responds to PayPal Lawsuit: “We Respect Trade Secrets”

in Commerce on May 27, 2011 at 10:01 am PT

Google shot back a brief response to the suit PayPal filed yesterday alleging that the company and two former PayPal employees now at Google misappropriated trade secrets and violated contracts involving recruiting agreements.
ppgoog

Voices

HP Sues Ex-Executive Who Joined Oracle

in News on April 7, 2011 at 8:47 am PT

Hewlett-Packard Co. sued a former sales executive Wednesday, alleging that he stole trade secrets from the company before joining rival Oracle Corp.

News Byte

Zynga, Playdom Agree to Play Nice

in News on November 23, 2010 at 10:44 am PT

Last September, social games player Zynga took rival Playdom to LawsuitVille, alleging that some of its trade secrets made their way into Playdom’s hands with the hiring of four ex-Zynga employees. Months of legal unpleasantness followed, but in July, Playdom was bought by Disney, and The Mouse can’t be bothered with loose bits of litigation. So, as of today, hostilities have ended with a settlement. No details, but Zynga says it’s “extremely pleased.”

Ellison Taunts HP CEO a Second Time

in News on October 28, 2010 at 3:30 am PT

If Larry Ellison’s Tuesday evening harangue against former SAP chief Léo Apotheker was, in the words of an SAP spokesperson, “a sideshow,” then the Oracle CEO’s latest tirade is more of a gala.

Voices

Analysis: The HP Suit Against Mark Hurd

in News on September 8, 2010 at 12:07 am PT

Hewlett-Packard is suing former CEO Mark Hurd, alleging breach of contract and threatened misappropriation of trade secrets, a day after he was named co-president of rival Oracle. Here is a look at some of the most salient points in the suit.

HP Sues Former CEO Over Oracle Gig (Read the Complaint)

in News on September 7, 2010 at 11:45 am PT

And, like clockwork, here’s Hewlett-Packard’s suit over Mark Hurd’s new gig at Oracle—and not 24 hours after the appointment was announced. Filed Tuesday in a California state court, the suit accuses HP’s recently ousted CEO of breach of contract and threatened misappropriation of trade secrets for accepting a position as co-president at rival Oracle.

Dorky Park: Nokia Sics Russian Police on Blogger With Prototype Phone

in News on July 7, 2010 at 3:21 pm PT

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. A prominent consumer electronics company has asked authorities to help it retrieve a prototype phone from the journalist who revealed it–prematurely–to the world. Sounds a lot like the Gizmodo/iPhone 4 prototype debacle, doesn’t it? But it’s not. This time, the consumer electronics company is Nokia, the journalist is Eldar Murtazin, editor-in-chief of Moscow-based mobile-review.com, and the authorities are the Russian police.

IBM Discovers Noncompetes Really Are Unenforceable in California [UPDATED]

in News on January 27, 2009 at 11:51 am PT

IBM’s legal efforts to enforce a noncompete agreement that would have prevented 26-year company veteran Mark Papermaster from jumping ship for a high-profile job at Apple appear to have failed. In a terse statement issued this morning, Apple said Papermaster will join the company as SVP of Devices Hardware Engineering on April 24.

The Papermaster Chase

in News on October 31, 2008 at 10:11 am PT

Apple’s efforts to build its own chip development brain trust out of its acquisition of PA Semi have run afoul of IBM. Mark Papermaster, a 26-year IBM veteran and vice president of its Blade Development unit–a division that designs corporate data centers, plans to take a new job with Apple in early November, and Big Blue is doing its damndest to stop him. The company has filed suit against Papermaster, claiming his noncompete agreement with IBM prohibits him from taking a job with Apple.