Category: 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 […]

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. […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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, […]

Giant Eagle is facing at least 32 class action lawsuits from customers related to its wear-a-mask policy. Giant Eagle is a grocery store and pharmacy chain with stores in midwest states like Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Indiana. See news reports here. Like many retailers, Giant Eagle is walking a fine line between trying to prevent transmission […]

There are complex legal and practical considerations when a person or entity is buying a business. Most people probably liken buying a business to buying a house or other real property. However, buying a business is much more complex. You will need to retain a talented and experienced Michigan business attorney to help. The advice […]

Whether a plaintiff must present evidence and prove that a stolen trade secret has been or is being used depends on whether the plaintiff is suing under common law theories or under versions of the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (“UTSA”). To date, 47 states and the District of Columbia have adopted a version of the […]

Even as the COVID-19 pandemic is receding and the economy is being reopened, there are many businesses that are continuing to abide by social distancing and the use of remote technologies as substitutes for face-to-face gatherings. This applies to meetings that are generally required for corporate governance purposes. In general, shareholder meetings and board of […]