Two cases this year have demonstrated that, although trade secret protections have become better aligned with protecting high tech trade secrets, there is still a long way to go. First, in Waymo v. Uber, the hard-fought...more
On May 3, 2018, the New York Court of Appeals held that data copied onto a server constitutes a tangible reproduction for purposes of liability under the New York Penal Code, marking the end of Sergey Aleynikov’s nine year...more
On April 20, 2017, the New York Court of Appeals issued a brief order continuing former Goldman Sachs programmer Sergey Aleynikov’s eight-year voyage through the state’s and country’s legal systems. Here’s the issue: does...more
Sergey Aleynikov was tried and convicted on criminal charges by both a Federal and a New York state jury; both times, his conviction was reversed. But his luck on appeal may have run out. The Appellate Division, First...more
In 2009, Sergey Aleynikov was a computer programmer employed by Goldman Sachs to write high-frequency trading code. He accepted an offer to join a new Chicago-based company, Teza Technologies. Before he left Goldman Sachs,...more
Sergey Aleynikov’s six-year trade secret odyssey through all possible configurations of litigation, civil and criminal, federal and state, may at long last have come to an end after the New York Supreme Court recently...more
In the most recent ruling in a lengthy and procedurally complex criminal case, a New York trial court dismissed a computer programmer’s criminal conviction under New York’s Unlawful Use of Secret Scientific Material law for...more
In a stunning victory for the former Goldman Sachs programmer, New York State Justice Daniel Conviser threw out Sergey Aleynikov’s jury conviction on state law charges that he stole intellectual property from Goldman. Trade...more
One of the drawbacks of a global economy is the rise in trade secret theft. In the absence of a seamless global enforcement infrastructure foreign actors have had little fear of being caught and suffering any consequences. ...more
On December 28, 2012, President Obama signed the “Theft of Trade Secrets Clarification Act of 2012.” This new law clarifies the scope of the “Economic Espionage Act of 1996” (18 USC §§1831-39). The enactment of the new...more
On December 28, 2012, President Obama signed into law the Theft of Trade Secrets Clarification Act of 2012, (the TTSCA), S. 3642, which broadens the scope of the Economic Espionage Act of 1996 (18 U.S.C. Sections 1831-39)....more
Trade secret protection expanded to include products or services "used in or intended for use in interstate or foreign commerce." On December 28, 2012, President Barack Obama signed into law the Theft of Trade Secrets...more
This blog has previously covered the arrest, prosecution and trial of Sergey Aleynikov, the former employee and computer programmer of the Goldman Sachs Group accused and convicted of misappropriating computer source code...more