Gaining the full benefit of proprietary information requires legal counsel experienced in counseling, licensing and litigation in trade secret matters, and steeped in the interplay between trade secret and patent, standard setting, and antitrust law. Covington’s experience in all these areas that translates into a strategic advantage for its clients.
Covington has litigated dozens of trade secret litigations, from the seminal New York State Appellate Division ruling in Chernoff Diamond v. Fitzmaurice, to the trade secret action brought by Computer Sciences Corporation in an attempt to ward off a hostile acquisition by Computer Associates, to numerous technology-focused disputes. Our patent and trade secret advisory practices often intersect, as almost every patented invention begins as a trade secret. Particularly in counseling clients with aspirations to multinational patent rights, Covington’s mastery of best practices for trade secrets in the life sciences, software, and other industries is invaluable, and enables us to ferret out the most advantageous balance of the available types of intellectual property protection. Trade secret licensing is a core skill in any number of technology transactions. From early-stage research collaborations to global alliances to develop and commercialize products, Covington attorneys have relied on both their distinctive technological skills and industry expertise to craft licenses permitting full and careful control of trade secret licensing. We also have considerable expertise in negotiating and drafting non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) and other kinds of confidentiality agreements to enable our clients to determine whether third party collaborations or licenses are in their commercial interest.
Representative Matters
- Representation of Caliper Life Sciences in which we secured a $52 million jury verdict of trade secret misappropriation in California state court related to microfluidics technology. Two related patent infringement cases settled shortly thereafter on terms favorable to our client.
- Representation of Monsanto Company in antitrust/contact litigation concerning genetically modified crops, pesticides, and herbicides in which the case settled favorably to our client shortly after we asserted trade secret misappropriation counterclaims.
- For credit data specialist The Credit Index, we negotiated an elaborate trade secret-based transaction with Riskwise (now part of Lexis/Nexis) for use of TCI’s proprietary data and methodologies.
Accolades
- The Best Lawyers in America - Three attorneys recognized for Intellectual Property Law (2007-2008).
- Legal 500 EMEA, 2006-2007, Intellectual Property (Belgium) - "Covington & Burling LLP 'provides a high-quality, cost-effective work product' according to one client. Regulatory concerns are ably dealt with through the firm's legislative experience, and the firm is a good choice for litigation, particularly in relation to electronic media" (2007).
- Chambers USA's - America's Leading Business Lawyers - One attorney recognized for Intellectual Property (2006-2008).
- International Who's Who of Business Lawyers - One attorney recognized for Patent (2005-2007).
- PLC - Life Sciences, Which Lawyer? - One attorney recognized for Intellectual Property (2005-2008).
- European Legal Experts - One attorney recognized for Intellectual Property (Brussels) (2006).
- PLC Global Counsel 2006 - Global Counsel Magazine, “The Life Sciences Industry Super League” - ranked number one in the world, 23 Covington lawyers were recommended as leaders in their fields, including seven lawyers in Europe.
- European Legal 500, Intellectual Property (Belgium) - “…Covington & Burling has a successful IP regulatory practice, the firm also undertakes high-end litigation in the Belgian courts” (2005).
- Legal 500, Commercial Litigation (EU) - “Covington & Burling is ‘business-orientated and user-friendly.' The lawyers are ‘efficient and responsive.’ Areas of expertise include complex commercial contracts, IP, life sciences, product liability, wrongful denials of insurance coverage and environmental torts” (2005).
- One of our Covington partners is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and vice chair of the Complex Litigation Committee.
- Another partner served as a United States District Court Judge for the District of Delaware for ten years presiding over 100 trials.
- In 2005, Covington was awarded “Best Achievement in Protecting IP on the Internet” at the WORLDleaders European Awards.
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