Category: Corporate

Negligent vs. Fraudulent Misrepresentation: How to Prove a Claim

Negligent vs. Fraudulent Misrepresentation: How to Prove a Claim

Corporate

Claims for intentional and negligent misrepresentation are two potential legal causes of action that can be used in court to sue for money damages if a person or business has been the victim of fraud. The two causes of action are different and have different legal requirements with respect to proof. Sometimes, both legal theories […]

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Trade Secrets Misappropriation Damages can Include Estimated R&D Costs

Trade Secrets Misappropriation Damages can Include Estimated R&D Costs

Corporate Trade Secret Lawyer

A federal Court of Appeals has recently affirmed that damages for trade secret misappropriation can include estimated costs for research and development (and also a hefty award of punitive damages). See Epic Systems Corporation v. Tata Consultancy Services, Ltd., Case Nos. 19-1528; 19-1613 (7th Cir., August 20, 2020). That case involved the Wisconsin version of […]

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Update on M&As Involving Entities Having Taken Paycheck Protection Program Loans: SBA Issues Guidance

Update on M&As Involving Entities Having Taken Paycheck Protection Program Loans: SBA Issues Guidance

Revision Legal

We wrote recently about how an extra layer of merger and acquisition due diligence should be triggered if the target business has taken a loan under the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”). Since we wrote, the Small Business Administration (“SBA”), which administers the PPP, issued what is called “Procedural Notice No. 5000-20057.” We will call it […]

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Trade Secret Protections Under International Law

Trade Secret Protections Under International Law

Corporate

At the international level, trade secrets are protected under the auspices of the World Trade Organization (WTO). In particular, the signatories and members of the WTO signed a treaty called the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (the TRIPS Agreement) which went into effect in January 1995. The TRIPS Agreement obligated the various […]

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Court Rules COVID-19 Concerns Do Not Justify Non-Compliance With Court’s Order

Court Rules COVID-19 Concerns Do Not Justify Non-Compliance With Court’s Order

Corporate

A federal court in Tennessee has recently held that COVID-19 concerns do not justify a terminated franchisee’s continued use of a franchisor’s trademarks, trade secrets and business plan in violation of a temporary restraining order issued by the court. See Gus’s Franchisor, LLC v. Terrapin Restaurant Partners, LLC, Case No. 2:20-cv-2372-JPM-cgc (US W.D. Tenn. Aug. […]

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Asset Purchase Agreements and Paycheck Protection Plan Loans

Asset Purchase Agreements and Paycheck Protection Plan Loans

Corporate

Back in March 2020, Congress enacted the “CARES Act.” See news report here. The CARES Act was designed to ameliorate COVID-related economic hardships for individuals and businesses. One key component of the Act was the Paycheck Protection Plan (“PPP”). The PPP was intended to protect small businesses and their employees by providing loans through the […]

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Using Teleconferencing Software can Put Your Trade Secrets At Risk

Using Teleconferencing Software can Put Your Trade Secrets At Risk

Trade Secret Lawyer

Trade secrets are valuable business assets protected under both federal and state laws. Trade secrets are any sort of information — like a formula, process, business method, spreadsheet, data compilation or list — that has economic value from not being generally known and that is subject to reasonable efforts to keep the information secret. In […]

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Business Acquisition Cautions: COVID-19 and Corporate Successor Liability

Business Acquisition Cautions: COVID-19 and Corporate Successor Liability

Corporate

Many companies have gone out of business and many more are in danger of going out of business as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. As a consequence, many creditors are facing debtors that have no money or assets from which a judgment can be collected. As an example, a commercial landlord might have a contractual lease […]

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Possession of a Trade Secret Sufficient to Bring a Misappropriation Claim

Possession of a Trade Secret Sufficient to Bring a Misappropriation Claim

Corporate

A federal court has recently held that POSSESSION of a trade secret is sufficient for a party to bring a trade secret misappropriation claim. Under the court’s ruling, OWNERSHIP is not required. See Advanced Fluid Systems, Inc. v. Huber, Case Nos. 19-1722 and 19-1752 (3rd Cir. April 30, 2020). In the Advanced Fluid Systems case, […]

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