Intellectual Property

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In Graduate Medical Education Development, LLC v. St. George’s Univ., Ltd., No. CV H-15-2641, 2016 WL 5844707 (S.D. Tex. Oct. 6, 2016), the Southern District of Texas rejected a defendants’ argument that the receipt of trade secrets pursuant to a non-disclosure agreement (“NDA”) bars the plaintiff’s trade secrets claim.  In Graduate Medical Eduation Development, plaintiff GMED disclosed various trade secrets to defendants pursuant to the terms of the parties’ NDA.  Plaintiff alleged that Defendants then used that information to place a bid to purchase a hospital and to secure additional investors, all in violation of the NDA.

Defendants countered with a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, arguing, among other things, that Plaintiff had not properly pled that the trade secrets were misappropriated because Plaintiff admitted that Defendants received the secrets pursuant to the NDA.
Continue Reading Receipt of Trade Secrets Pursuant to a Non-Disclosure Agreement is Not a Defense to a Trade Secrets Claim

The Northern District of Texas recently published a 2015 opinion interpreting the Texas Uniform Trade Secrets Act (TUTSA). In ZeniMax Media, Inc. v. Oculus VR, LLC, 166 F. Supp. 3d 697 (N.D. Tex. 2015), Judge Solis held that plaintiff’s common law misappropriation claims were not preempted by TUTSA.  Defendant Facebook did not acquire the…

Source: USPTO
Source: USPTO

Source: USPTO

According to the Houston Chronicle, Whataburger and DC Comics are in discussions over Wonder Woman’s new stacked W logo, which looks an awful lot like Whataburger’s stacked W logo. Whataburger and DC Comics have used similar stacked W marks for years without any concerns about a likelihood of confusion, which is the standard for infringement in a trademark infringement lawsuit.   According to Whataburger’s spokesperson, the discussions started because DC Comics filed “nine new trademark applications, covering a much more substantial list of goods and services than just comic books, including a variety of food and beverage products.”  Indeed, a search on the United States Patent and Trademark Office reveals that DC Comics filed application 86896081 to use the stacked W mark for vegetable juices and application 8689606 for various food products.
Continue Reading Is Wonder Woman’s Trademark Confusingly Similar to Whataburger’s?

Companies often debate as to whether their software code should be treated as a trade secret or should be registered as a copyright. There are many variables to consider, but perhaps the most important is whether the company wants its source code to remain a secret. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals provided this recent breakdown of the intellectual property considerations for software code:
Continue Reading What is the Best Intellectual Property Protection for Software?