O’Melveny & Myers
Firm overview:
Full-service international firm O’Melveny & Myers takes a multidisciplinary approach to trade secrets law, bringing together experts in IP, labour and employment, white-collar criminal law, antitrust, and other specialist areas. For clients across the globe, the trade secrets team is well versed in the varying jurisdictional rules, multiple intersecting areas of law, and quickly changing technologies. The firm has a deep bench of trade secret attorneys who represent both plaintiffs and defendants in high-end litigation as well as arbitration, and it sits within a small group of peers with capabilities at the top level.
O’Melveny’s contentious lawyers collaborate with transactional specialists on the trade secrets hazards in strategic M&As, partnerships and joint ventures. The firm also has the capacity to investigate leaks, evaluate and reduce risk as employees arrive and depart, and anticipate, prevent, and resolve issues before they turn into litigation.
Team overview:
There are more than 70 attorneys in O’Melveny & Myers’ Trade Secrets Group. David Almeling (San Francisco) chairs the group and is widely recognised as a leading attorney in the field. In addition to representing clients in countless matters spanning the full range of trade secret and employee mobility issues, Almeling teaches trade secret law at UC Berkeley Law School and serves as the chair of the Sedona Conference’s Working Group 12 on Trade Secrets.
Other experienced team members include David Eberhart, who is skilled in trade secrets investigations and litigation that involve both civil and criminal aspects, and Darin Snyder, who frequently first-chairs major trade secrets trials and co-authored the book Trade Secret Law and Corporate Strategy with Almeling. Both are based in the San Francisco office.
Key matters:
- Cryplex v Bitmain Technologies Holding Company
O’Melveny represents Bitmain Technologies in a trade secret and breach-of-contact case brought by Cryplex in California. Bitmain is one of the world’s largest designers of ASIC (application specific integrated circuit) chips for cryptocurrency mining.
In 2014, Cryplex approached Bitmain to discuss a potential business relationship. Although no agreement was reached, Cryplex sued Bitmain in 2018 alleging that Bitmain had agreed to merge the two companies in 2014 and used merger discussions to acquire technical trade secrets relating to ASIC chip design.
The team is currently defending Bitmain against these claims of trade secret misappropriation and breach of contract. In February 2025, the court granted summary judgment in Bitmain’s favour against all of Cryplex’s claims.
O’Melveny’s team consists of partners David Almeling (San Francisco), David Eberhart (San Francisco) and Vincent Zhou (Los Angeles).
The case is Cryplex, Inc v Bitmain Technologies Holding Company, Superior Court of California, Santa Clara County.
- Qorvo v Bulet et al
Semiconductor company Qorvo filed a lawsuit against a former employee and Menlo Microsystems, alleging that the former employee had improperly retained Qorvo documents and used and/or disclosed trade secrets in connection with accepting new employment at Menlo Micro. O’Melveny was hired to defend Menlo Microsystems and the former employee after the court issued a temporary restraining order against them.
In early 2024 the parties executed a confidential settlement agreement and in April 2024 the court dismissed the lawsuit.
On the team for O’Melveny are partners David Almeling (San Francisco) and Eric Amdursky (Silicon Valley).
The case is Qorvo, Inc v Bulut et al, US District Court for the Northern District of California.
- Averon US v AT&T et al
AT&T hired O’Melveny to lead its defence against trade secret misappropriation and related claims. Averon’s claims are based on complicated allegations claiming that AT&T would work with Averon (f/k/a Cloudwear, Inc) to provide authentication software to users; that AT&T formed ZenKey as a joint venture with Verizon and T-Mobile; that this joint venture prevented Averon from offering a SIM-signaling authentication solution; and that AT&T used Averon’s trade secrets for ZenKey’s benefit.
O’Melveny’s motion to dismiss resulted in the dismissal of several claims. The parties are now in discovery regarding the remaining claims.
The case is Averon US, Inc v AT&T Corp et al, US District Court for the District of Delaware.
Partners David Almeling (San Francisco) and Tim Durst (Dallas) handle the matter.
Clients:
AT&T, Bitmain Technologies Holding Company, CesiumAstro, Menlo Micro, Openforce, Roman Health Ventures
