Three Pitfalls for Trade Secret Plaintiffs

by Benjamin K. Riley

Spring/Summer 2008 – Arising from the intersection of cutting-edge technology and outright theft, trade secret litigation offers many fascinating challenges. But traps for the unwary plaintiff lurk at every stage of the proceeding. This article discusses three evolving pitfalls awaiting the trade secret plaintiff: the initial disclosure and description of the trade secrets, the problems encountered in responding to contention interrogatories regarding misappropriation that can be answered only by the plaintiff’s expert, and the need for the damages expert to consider apportioning damages among multiple alleged trade secrets.  View a pdf copy of the article.