Intellectual Property Litigation

Trade Secrets Litigation

Farella’s intellectual property lawyers are well-versed in the challenges of highly-competitive, technology-driven enterprises. Rapid technological innovation and employee mobility combine to make trade secrets critical business assets, and we are often called upon to defend or prosecute claims for misappropriation. We have extensive experience resolving trade secret and employee mobility disputes, whether through litigation, settlement, or mediation.

Clients from Large to Small

Our clients include Fortune 100 corporations, small-to-mid cap companies, emerging and privately held companies, and entrepreneurs.

From smaller, dynamic players in the emerging growth, entertainment and wine industries to publicly traded, well-known major corporate names in technology and consumer products, we are equally adept working with substantial in-house legal teams or smaller companies with limited or no in-house resources.

Nimble, Direct, Experienced

We strive to obtain quick and efficient results for our clients. Our team includes intellectual property litigators, white collar criminal defense lawyers, and employment law specialists, enabling us to handle all types of trade secret disputes. We have experience with claims involving the alleged theft of source code, website designs, client lists, marketing strategies, and other technology assets and business processes.

Farella lawyers have long been on the forefront of emerging litigation strategies in trade secret disputes, having successfully defended Visa International in one of the first cases in the country tried under the inevitable disclosure trade secrets doctrine. We are intimately familiar with the local courts and judges in Northern California, and also represent clients in federal and state courts across the United States.

Our trade secrets team includes lawyers with engineering or technical degrees and lawyers who specialize in damages law. Our expertise enables us to effectively convey complex technical concepts to judges, juries, arbitrators, mediators, and other parties. Our client teams are smartly-staffed and nimble—led by one or more Farella partners who remain actively engaged in every facet of the case.

Professional Involvement

Farella’s Trade Secrets team is committed to our clients’ success. We extend that commitment through our participation and contributions to thought leadership in top industry groups, including the Association of Business Trial Lawyers, the Bar Association of San Francisco Intellectual Property Section, and the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce.

Firm Highlights

Publication

Failures Are Valuable IP: Protect Your Startup’s Negative Trade Secrets

Technology companies and start-ups are familiar with protecting inventions with patents, and protecting their secret formulas, source code, and algorithms as trade secrets. But tech companies may not be aware of another powerful form of...

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News

Farella Lawyers Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® 2024 Edition

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Publication

Failures Are Valuable IP: Protect Your Startup’s Negative Trade Secrets

Technology companies and start-ups are familiar with protecting inventions with patents, and protecting their secret formulas, source code, and algorithms as trade secrets. But tech companies may not be aware of another powerful form of...

Read More
Publication

How To Avoid Allegations of Trade Secret Misappropriation in California

When departing a company, an executive, founder, or employee with access to trade secrets or confidential information may face legal allegations around whether they will use or disclose their former employer’s trade secrets at...

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Publication

AI and Trade Secrets: A Complicated Friendship

Excitement has been growing for decades around the development, training, and use of generative AI, but this past year the excitement escalated into a frenzy. Everyone is considering how AI impacts their business. This article...

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Publication

Under FTC’s New Proposed Rule, Employers Will No Longer Be Able to Rely on Noncompete Agreements

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has proposed a rule that would prohibit the use of noncompete agreements in employment contracts. Noncompete agreements prevent employees and independent contractors from pursuing certain forms of employment &ndash...

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