Posts Tagged: "Confidentiality"

On March 12, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) affirmed the Middle District of Florida’s decision directing the clerk to unseal the amended complaint of Plaintiff DePuy Synthes Products, Inc., DePuy Synthes Sales, Inc. (Collectively Depuy), deciding that the district court did not abuse its discretion in ensuring public access to court documents (Depuy v. Veterinary Orthopedic Implants). The CAFC agreed with the district court that VOI “did not establish that it took reasonable measures to protect the Manufacturer Identity.” VOI didn’t enter into an agreement to keep the relationship confidential, but the lack of express agreement is not dispositive of the issue. Where an express agreement doesn’t exist, there must be some other indicia that both parties wanted to maintain a confidential relationship.

Recently, however, the USPTO and the Federal Circuit have both clarified that a patent agent’s communications related to his or her authorized practice are protected in the same manner as attorney client communications, such as those by patent attorneys… Further, state courts are not bound by USPTO rules or Federal Circuit law. Accordingly, to the extent a patent agent’s communications regarding his or her authorized practice are at issue in a state court proceeding that can’t be removed to a federal jurisdiction, the communications may not have the same protection as that provided in a federal court or AIA proceeding. Although the circumstances under which communications between a patent agent and a client would be discoverable in litigation in state court are limited, the potential admissibility in various states leaves a gap in the potential privilege.

A Confidentiality Agreement, which is also known as non-disclosure agreement or simply as an NDA, is simply a contract between two or more parties where the subject of the agreement is a promise that information conveyed will be maintained in secrecy… These types of agreements are particularly useful when one is disclosing information that is valuable so long as secrecy is maintained (i.e., a trade secret), which can include both invention related information and business related information.

As discussed elsewhere in this Take 5, although California employers generally cannot restrict an employee’s ability to work elsewhere, California employers can protect their trade secrets and confidential information. One pillar of a successful plan to do so is having an employee departure protocol.

This page and website contain contain detailed information to help inventors on the road from invention to patent… Below are a sampling of inventor help links to specific patent and invention related information throughout our website. As you read these articles you will invariably come across links to other articles of interest, which you can and really should read. While I believe inventors should take the time to read all of the pages throughout IPWatchdog.com, I have gone through the IPWatchdog.com archives and created several “reading assignments,” which will hopefully make the task of figuring out where to start more manageable, and which will help get you started. I recommend you do them in this order (i.e., starting with Reading Assignment 1), but if you find something that you just need to know then by all means jump ahead. You can also visit our Inventor Education Archive as well.

ZeniMax offers useful insights for enterprises seeking to maximize the benefits of NDAs while minimizing the time and effort needed to negotiate them… Most technology enterprises are well-acquainted with NDAs. On the positive side, they recognize the importance of entering into NDAs with outside parties before disclosing confidential information, whether in the context of discussions related to potential commercial transactions, funding, or joint R&D projects, or for other purposes, such as to support product-related investigations or certification activities. On the negative side, enterprises commonly associate the negotiation of NDAs with cumbersome paperwork, obstacles, and delay.

In the past, employers typically only needed to be concerned that confidentiality and non-compete clauses in their employment agreements may be challenged either by departing employees who want to work for a competitor or by a competing company attempting to hire an employee or former employee. That tide is changing as an increasing level of government scrutiny has been directed at these employee restrictive covenants. Recently, federal and state agencies have been challenging the enforceability of confidentiality provisions and non-competes that the agencies claim are not supported by legitimate business interests. Given this change-in-tide and the New Year, now is the perfect time for employers to engage counsel to review their confidentiality and non-compete provisions.

Everyone in the world today has habits that hinder some part of their everyday life. From personal relationships to the work place, bad habits are formed every day. In the professional world, however, it is important for employees to understand how their bad habits are affecting those around them. Bad habits in the work place can lead to a bad reputation, being overlooked for promotion or even loss of employment. It is important to be conscience of bad habits and work hard to break them before they negatively impact your career. Of course, as with so much in life, identification of a problem, or in this case a bad habit, is the first step. Below a list of 7 particularly bad personal habits that can ruin your professional life.