MGA Wins Round II in Bratz Doll Fight With Mattel

Sometimes, uphill battles must be fought because there really isn’t a viable second option; the stakes are too high, and allowing the status quo to remain undisturbed without a fight can mean forfeiting your business. And that’s precisely what MGA Entertainment did in its prolonged fight over the proprietary intellectual property rights to the Bratz [...]

When NY Courts Will Enforce a Non-Compete – Even When the Employee Was Fired

Here’s the general rule in New York: if an employee is fired without cause, any non-compete agreement he or she signed will no longer be enforceable. And the reason for this is fairly straightforward – because once the employer is no longer keeping up their end of the contract, the employee shouldn’t be forced to [...]

How One U.S. Company Is Protecting Against The Piracy Of Its Proprietary Software

Two days ago, the New York Times reported on a lawsuit that was brought by California-based Cybersitter, claiming that two Chinese software companies had engaged in unfair competition, and misappropriated, or stolen, thousands of lines of the code contained in its proprietary software to develop Green Dam, a type of software designed to block users [...]

Piercing the Corporate Veil – Critical Facts That You Will Need To Prove Your Case Under New York Law

The fact pattern is all too familiar:  D enters into a contract with small business P to jointly develop certain products, and then not only breaches the contract with P, but then breaches his fiduciary duty to P and uses the proprietary information that he gained during their alliance to try and poach P’s proprietary [...]

The Broader Implications of Trade Secret Theft

Trade secret theft is not just a civil monetary matter that is derived from a breach of fiduciary duty or unfair competition. It has criminal implications as well. In a story that was published earlier today, a former Goldman Sachs vice president was arrested by the FBI based upon this employee’s alleged trade secret theft, more particularly, claims that he stole Goldman’s [...]

(Another) Report Predicts That Employees’ Breach of Duty and Theft To Rise in Down Economy

I came across earlier this evening entitled “Report: Business Risk of Fraud, Corruption Up Amid Economic Crisis,” which, true to its title, squarely blames the global economic recession for an uptick in employee theft, corruption and dishonesty in the business environment. A careful reading of the article reveals that the holes in the argument advanced [...]

How Revealing Your Well-Prepared Hand Can Sometimes Yield The Best – And Fastest – Results In New York Business Litigation

I recently had an experience where an extremely costly commercial lawsuit about a claimed breach of contract and misappropriation of proprietary intellectual property by a fiduciary of a new york small business was avoided. Although I would like to say that the lawsuit was rendered completely moot, and averted entirely, to be completely candid, my efforts weren’t that successful; however,  they did have [...]

When Principles and Pragmatism Collide: Commercial Litigation In New York Isn’t Necessarily the Best Answer

Over the last several months, I’ve noticed an unmistakable trend: when people that I encounter in the small business litigation context feel that they’ve been wronged, particularly in the context of a breach of contract or breach of a fiduciary duty, they staunchly refuse to settle their case, even if it makes perfect economic sense. [...]

How Having Your Trade Secrets Stolen Can Affect Your New York Business

A trade secret theft lawsuit that was recently filed in upstate New York by the Price Chopper chain store illustrates rather vividly how having your small business’s trade secrets – in this case pricing information – can dramatically impact your bottom line. In its initial suit papers, Price Chopper claims that competitor Giant Market would have someone [...]

Who Says Small Business Can’t Protect Its Proprietary Technology Against the Big Boys?

On May 21, a Texas jury rendered a verdict against software giant Microsoft, and awarded a relatively small Canadian software company $200 million after finding that Microsoft had infringed on i4i’s proprietary technology. And this isn’t even the first time this year that a jury has found in favor of a much smaller business in [...]