Trade Secrets
Notable Representations, Key Contacts
- Holistic, Cross-Disciplinary Approach. Our use of integrated teams across the Complex Commercial Litigation, Employment Litigation, Patent Litigation, Intellectual Property and IP Transactions practices allows us to provide seamless trade secrets counseling, handling issues from employment law to high technology. When a trade secrets dispute arises, steps need to be taken in hours and days, not weeks or months, and getting the right team and right strategy in place quickly is often the difference between winning and losing. We have a proven track record from the preliminary injunction stage through trial and appeal.
- Geographic Footprint. Weil partners with clients on complex trade secrets issues regardless of the nature of the transaction, venue for the litigation, or headquarters of the parties. We offer a presence in the traditional hotbeds where trade secrets and related IP and employment issues are frequently litigated, including California, New York, and Texas. We also offer these capabilities in many of our international offices. This presence allows us to efficiently handle the most complex, multi-jurisdictional disputes and navigate the often conflicting state laws governing trade secrets disputes.
- Extensive Counseling and Investigations Experience. In addition to handling high stakes trade secrets litigations in the courtroom, we also focus on conducting internal investigations and pre-litigation counseling. Taking the steps to identify and protect our clients' most valuable assets helps avoid the loss of trade secret protection. We provide pre-dispute counseling thoroughly, discretely and expeditiously, and regularly advise and train clients on issues relating to implementation of best practices and to maximize trade secret protection. With our integrated approach, we also help companies navigate the confluence of non-compete and restrictive covenants issues, contract and investment disputes, and patent or other IP issues which overlay many trade secret disputes.
- Sophisticated Understanding of Complex Technology. Clients rely on Weil’s deep bench of Intellectual Property attorneys, many with advanced science and engineering degrees, to navigate trade secret disputes involving complex, cutting-edge technology. Drawing on patent, transactional and general IP expertise across different technologies, we are able to quickly assess technological issues, understand the tensions involving trade secret protections and patent disclosures, and provide nuanced advice within the broader business context.
Selected Representations
Alliant Insurance Services
Elite Model Management
Hudson’s Bay Company
Intrepid Solutions and Services
Liquidating Trust for Excite@Home
MasterCard
Marsh & McLennan
Specialized Technology Resources
WoodSpring Hotels
Weil represented WoodSpring Hotels, an extended stay hotel company, in connection with litigation commenced in Kansas by industry competitor Extended Stay America hotels (ESA) against WoodSpring, WoodSpring’s former Vice President of Sales, and a former IT consultant of both WoodSpring and ESA. ESA brought eleven claims against the defendants, alleging misappropriation and use of ESA’s confidential information and trade secrets, which it claimed occurred with the knowledge and acquiescence of certain members of WoodSpring management.
Weil developed a strategy to immediately turn over all materials, and focused our efforts on developing a model that showed the potential impact on ESA to be far more limited than they had suggested. Weil successfully negotiated ESA’s withdrawal of its motions for expedited discovery and preliminary injunction at the outset of the case, allowing the parties to avoid costly and rigorous discovery. After a successful mediation, the parties reached a quick settlement despite the challenging and complex set of facts. A consent judgment and permanent injunction were entered by the court in July 2017.
Key Contacts


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Clients look to Weil to protect their interests in disputes which threaten their most important product lines or growing revenue streams. The firm’s enviable squad of lawyers marry trial skill and technical dexterity in a potent blend which has scored them some notable victories.”
IAM Patent 1000 2015
Awards and Recognition, Speaking Engagements, Latest Thinking, Firm News & Announcements
Awards and Recognition
- Weil Named a “Leading Firm” for Trade Secrets Award Brief — Legal 500 US 2019
Speaking Engagements
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The Sedona Conference
Speaker(s):
Patrick J. O'Toole Jr.
May 20, 2020 — Webinar — Patrick O’Toole, Jr. was a panelist on The Sedona Conference’s webinar discussing its upcoming publication on the proper identification of asserted trade secrets in misappropriation cases. The panel included judges, practitioners and industry leaders. Patrick is on the Steering Committee for The Sedona Conference’s Trade Secrets Working Group 12 and is a contributing editor to the Commentary on the Proper Identification of Asserted Trade Secrets in Misappropriation Cases.
Latest Thinking
- Whitewater Industries, Ltd. v. Alleshouse: The Federal Circuit Invalidates Assignment Provision’s “Broad Restraining Effects” on Former Employee Alert — Employer Update — By Bambo Obaro and Shawn C. McNulty — PDF — November 2020
- Choice-of-Law Provisions in Restrictive Covenant Agreements Publication — New York Law Journal | Employer Update — By Jeffrey S. Klein and Nicholas J. Pappas — October 07, 2020
- How Companies Can Protect Their Trade Secrets While Employees Work Remotely Publication — The Recorder — By Bambo Obaro and Jeffrey S. Klein — September 16, 2020
- Liquidated Damages Clauses in Restrictive Covenant Agreements Publication — New York Law Journal — By Jeffrey S. Klein, Nicholas J. Pappas and Dan Richards — June 04, 2019
- Can Employers Enforce Non-Competes Against California Employees? Alert — Employer Update — By Jeffrey S. Klein, Nicholas J. Pappas and Chris Dyess — PDF — February 2019
Firm News & Announcements
- Weil Earns 2020 “Litigation Department of the Year” Honorable Mention from The American Lawyer Firm Announcement — December 31, 2019