Area of Expertise: Intellectual Property (PDF format)

• A business seeking to develop hardware and software for television stations to use in enhancing news and sports broadcasts hired an employee to design and develop this equipment to be ready for use. An employment contract was entered into with certain confidentiality and trade secret protection language. The individual proceeded to build the needed components for the project. A dispute over the employee’s performance and failure to meet deadlines resulted in his termination. This led to a two-week arbitration involving cross-claims of wrongful termination and theft of trade secrets. Issued an award resolving claims and counter-claims.
• Plaintiff alleged breach of a nondisclosure agreement involving a device he claimed to have invented which had the capability of producing massive amounts of energy through the bombardment of tiny diamond crystals with laser rays. He provided plans and details for the device to the University of California under a nondisclosure agreement. The defendant denied breach of the NDA and asserted that his intellectual property was already in the public domain. Jury found in favor of defendant and against plaintiff.