Wilson Sonsini
Firm overview:
Wilson Sonsini has been at the forefront of the development of trade secrets practice, with a team of specialist practitioners that advise visionary companies, entrepreneurs, investors, and startup founders. Its attorneys handle both the plaintiff and defence sides of trade secret and employee mobility disputes, and are experienced in state and federal courts across the US, as well as before trial judges, juries, and appellate panels.
Clients regularly employ the firm to conduct diligence on trade secrets issues surrounding transactions, such as mergers and acquisitions, private equity or venture capital investments, and R&D collaborations. The team also provides employee training sessions to present the key legal principles surrounding trade secrets, runs internal investigations in trade secrets issues, and stays abreast of relevant case law around the US.
Team overview:
A partner in the San Francisco office, Charles Tait Graves is recognised by peers as a leader in the area of trade secrets. Graves has taught trade secret law for 15 years at UC Law, San Francisco, and has almost 25 years of experience handling trade secret matters in Silicon Valley and across the US.
A notable departure from the team over the past year was former partner Amy Candido, who left Wilson Sonsini to join Simpson Thacher & Bartlett as head of IP litigation in February 2025.
Key matters:
- Cydex v Bexson Biomedical
Wilson Sonsini represents medical equipment supplier Bexson in connection with a trade secrets dispute with CyDex. In August 2025, Bexson received an early win as an Italian court dismissed the case, a decision believed to be a rare occurrence in Italian trade secret law where only a small fraction of cases are dismissed at this stage.
CyDex had accused Bexson of misusing proprietary information tied to a past licensing deal. The plaintiff has appealed the dismissal, meaning the case will move to Italy’s appellate courts.
- Google: Complete defence verdict in $1.3 billion lawsuit
In June 2025, Wilson Sonsini secured a complete defence verdict from a Los Angeles jury in ReactX v Google. The plaintiff had sought $1.3 billion in damages, alleging that Google breached a series of contracts by misusing its confidential technology to build two of Google’s most successful digital advertising platforms.
ReactX originally brought the case for trade secret misappropriation, but voluntarily dismissed this cause of action two weeks before trial. The court further trimmed ReactX’s lawsuit in response to motions brought by Wilson Sonsini, and after a six-week trial, the jury vindicated Google on ReactX’s remaining cause of action for breach of contract.
The case is ReactX LLC v Google LLC (Superior Court of Los Angeles County). Wilson Sonsini’s team was led by San Francisco partners Colleen Bal, John Flynn, Tait Graves, Josh Baskin, and New York partner Lucy Yen.
- Inhibrx Biosciences: Victory in trade secrets trial
A Delaware jury delivered a favourable verdict in November 2024 for Wilson Sonsini clients Inhibrx Biosciences and its co-founder in a trade secrets misappropriation trial.
The co-founder, an expert witness in an international arbitration dispute, was sued along with Inhibrx by the losing party in that arbitration, which alleged misappropriation of immuno-oncology antibody trade secrets and sought over $450 million in damages.
The jury concluded that the information the co-founder reviewed did not qualify as trade secrets, had not been obtained through improper means, and that neither he nor Inhibrx had used that information. The plaintiff was awarded $0 in damages.
Wilson Sonsini’s trial team included Luis Li (partner, Los Angeles), Eric Tuttle (partner, Los Angeles), Matthew Reed (partner, Palo Alto), Christopher Mays (of counsel, Palo Alto), Jamie Otto (associate, Los Angeles), Kevin Heiner (associate, Salt Lake City), and Nick Guenther (associate, Palo Alto).
Clients:
Google, Inhibrx Biosciences
