Paul Hastings

Firm overview:

Companies in crisis mode on trade secrets issues turn to Paul Hastings, which is noted as one of the leading authorities in the area by peers. The practice is frequently called upon to handle high-stakes, time-sensitive trade secrets matters, drawing on its network of experienced lawyers to navigate trade secrets investigations and proceedings for clients across the US.

Paul Hastings’ trade secrets team assists clients in identifying and protecting their most valuable confidential data, and aggressively prosecutes and defends against cases of alleged data theft. The firm’s multidisciplinary practice, which includes cybersecurity experts and electronic discovery and forensics specialists, is highly adept at detecting and handling misappropriation by insiders and outsiders.

The litigation team, led by Jeff Pade, takes on challenging and intricate trade secrets disputes involving diverse issues, sometimes with parallel civil and criminal components in the US and abroad for both companies and individuals. Paul Hastings has a strong record of wins in numerous forums across the country, including before the International Trade Commission and in all-or-nothing arbitrations.

Team overview:

Paul Hastings has a large number of partners with trade secrets experience within its litigation, employment, white-collar, and IP departments, who regularly collaborate on disputes.

Washington, DC partner Jeff Pade is described as a “top, top lawyer” by a trade secrets industry peer. Pade has over 25 years’ experience in IP disputes and specialises in challenging trade secrets matters. He directs complex and high stakes civil and criminal trade secrets litigations for clients around the world, and is recognised by senior actors in the field as a leading specialist in the area.

Based in Los Angeles, Jennifer Baldocchi is chair of the firm’s International Employee Mobility and Trade Secrets practice. Baldocchi litigates trade secrets misappropriation claims as well as disputes over restrictive covenants in employment-related agreements, and advises on best practices to protect and enforce IP rights and restrictive covenants.

Key matters:

• Viking Therapeutics: ITC and district court trade secrets dispute

In a first-of-its-kind, bet-the-company litigation, Paul Hastings achieved a precedent-setting win for longtime client Viking Therapeutics in a Section 337 ITC investigation against Chinese entities accused of misappropriating hundreds of Viking trade secrets on pharmaceutical formulations and clinical/preclinical information for Viking’s drug to treat non-alcoholic steatohepatitis.

Defendants/respondents accessed Viking’s trade secrets when evaluating a potential business collaboration with Viking, and then, after not moving forward on the collaboration, disclosed Viking’s trade secrets in patent publications and improperly used them to accelerate a directly competing drug product. After two trials before the ITC, Paul Hastings halted the defendant’s ongoing clinical trials through a cease-and-desist order and a seven-year limited exclusion order.

Viking will seek additional equitable and monetary relief through its parallel federal action in the District Court for the Southern District of California, which had been stayed during the ITC investigation.

On the team are Eric Dittmann (global co-chair of IP practice), Jeff Pade (partner), Kecia Reynolds (partner), Isaac Ashkenazi (partner), Bruce Wexler (partner), Mark Smith (of counsel), Brandon Howell (associate), Zachary Hadd (associate), Richard Rothman (associate), Summer Stevens (associate), Josh Lopez (associate), and Cheron Mims (associate).

• SuperCooler: Trade secrets dispute with The Coca-Cola Company and overseas actors

Paul Hastings represents SuperCooler Technologies adverse The Coca-Cola Company, MetalFrio, Hisense, and Swire in an offensive trade secrets action in Florida, a defensive contract action adverse to Coke in Georgia, and an offensive trade secrets AAA arbitration adverse to Coke.

SuperCooler is the inventor of several technologies that rapidly cool beverages to below their freezing temperatures while maintaining them in a liquid state. SuperCooler’s lawsuit alleges that Coke induced SuperCooler into a partnership to commercialise these technologies, but never truly intended to work with SuperCooler to develop them.

Instead, it is alleged that after Coke obtained SuperCooler’s trade secrets, it disclosed them to third parties without authorisation, filed copycat patents publicising SuperCooler’s trade secrets, hid the patent filings from SuperCooler, and conspired with multiple foreign manufacturers and distributors to usurp SuperCooler’s IP and business opportunities. As a result of Coke’s alleged misappropriation, SuperCooler claims that it has suffered hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.

The Florida case is stayed while an arbitration tribunal evaluates the arbitrability of SuperCooler’s claims. In the Georgia action, Coke alleges that SuperCooler failed to repay a loan from Coke intended to help SuperCooler scale up its manufacturing capabilities so that SuperCooler could manufacture the technologies for its partnership with Coke.

The team is Brad Bondi (partner), Jeff Pade (partner), Gina Cora (of counsel), Joe Schroeder (of counsel), Michael Wheatley (of counsel), Michael Wolfe (associate), Lawrence Slusky (associate), and Alexa Lowman (associate).

• Afiniti AI trade secrets dispute with former founder and CEO

Paul Hastings’ client Afiniti offers artificial intelligence (AI) software solutions. The company parted ways with its founder and CEO, who then allegedly hired a number of Afiniti employees for competing ventures in China and Pakistan offering the same AI services under the same translated Afiniti name.

Paul Hastings filed an action in the DC district court alleging theft of Afiniti’s crown-jewel AI software, including allegations of breach of contract, trade secrets misappropriation, computer fraud, and unjust enrichment, among other claims. The team also filed suit in Pakistan against former Afinti employees and obtained a preliminary injunction enforcing the terms of those employees’ non-disclosure and non-compete agreements.

It is also defending Afiniti in China against plaintiff Qinhe’s claim for infringement of its “right to reputation” upon the allegations in the DC action’s complaint and litigation hold notices Afiniti sent to Afiniti’s former customers in China (who are also Qinhe’s potential customers).

On Paul Hastings’ team are Thomas Counts (partner), Jeff Pade (partner), Elizabeth Brann (partner), Shaun Wu (partner), Beau Stockstill (of counsel), Ariell Bratton (associate), and David Valente (associate).

Clients:

Afiniti, bluebird bio, Daiichi Sankyo, Joby Aviation, SuperCooler Technologies, Viking Therapeutics