Practice Strengths

In addition to trade secret litigation and dispute resolution services, we provide clients with standard operating procedures and “best practices” to assist in identifying, securing and maintaining trade secret rights. We negotiate and draft all forms of trade secret agreements, such as employment agreements, development agreements, distribution agreements, licenses and transfer agreements, and we have performed due diligence studies in the context of domestic and international mergers and acquisitions.

Leadership in Action

Trade Secrets: Going to court to enjoin anonymous posters on Yahoo!'s message boards

Client: Several large industrial companies

Type of Matter: Trade secret infringement and breach of confidentiality agreements in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas.

Our Client's Challenge: Identify the anonymous posters and informers to stop the unauthorized leak of information.

The Goal: Stop the dissemination of trade secrets over the Internet.

Our Strategy: Obtain a temporary restraining order and subpoena Yahoo! to identify information on the posters; have Yahoo! pull offending messages.

Results: Anonymous posters identified and trade secrets protected.

About Our Intellectual Property Team

Our team of dedicated Intellectual Property (IP) lawyers and patent agents has the diverse backgrounds and core strengths required to ensure that the full spectrum of domestic and international IP is considered in securing IP and formulating IP strategies. Members of our IP team have worked as engineers and in-house patent, trademark and copyright counsel for companies and agencies as diverse as Borg Warner, Capitol Records, DuPont, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the Justice Department (Civil Division, Intellectual Property) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Our team members also include adjunct IP law professors, columnists, the co-founder of the longest-running journal on computer technology and regular lecturers for the Zurich Institute of Technology, Georgetown University and George Mason University. In addition, our team members frequently speak and write for continuing legal education programs and industry events and are quoted in the press on emerging issues.

Baker Hostetler is a member of the International Trademark Association (INTA), American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO), Licensing Executive Society (LES), The International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition (IACC), International Licensing Industry and Merchandisers Association (LIMA), as well as numerous local and regional IP organizations.