In the digital age, trade secret misappropriation is all too common – a former employee or contractor can easily walk away with a flash drive full of trade secrets.

    Customer lists, design documents, schematics, actual source code files, and knowledge accumulated over years of experience can all be taken with relative ease. With the passage of the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA), 18 U.S.C. § 1839, the environment for litigation of misappropriation of trade secrets has expanded into federal court. DisputeSoft’s versatile team of experts possesses the skills and experience to provide a variety of services in matters involving trade secret misappropriation.

    Assessing Whether Trade Secrets Are Actually “Secrets”

    The software industry is in a constant state of flux – yesterday’s “secret” may quickly become public knowledge. DisputeSoft’s experts analyze the state of the software industry at precise points in time to examine whether a trade secret was indeed not publicly known at the time of the alleged misappropriation. Not only does our team of experts examine the state of the art during the relevant timeframe to determine whether the claimed trade secret was in the public domain, but we also investigate whether the owner of claimed trade secrets took reasonable precautions to preserve their secrecy.

    How We Can Help

    Investigating Whether Trade Secrets Were Misappropriated

    In addition to determining whether certain intellectual property does in fact qualify as a trade secret, DisputeSoft’s experts also assist counsel in investigating whether a claimed trade secret has actually been misappropriated. Our forensic investigators examine both the plaintiff’s computer system to find evidence of the defendant’s unauthorized removal of trade-secret material, as well as the defendant’s system for indications that the trade-secret material is in the defendant’s possession.

    Featured Case

    ConnectU v. Mark Zuckerberg & The Facebook

    DisputeSoft conducted a source code review to investigate allegations that Zuckerberg misappropriated ConnectU’s trade secrets.

    Experts on Trade Secret Misappropriation

    Need assistance with Trade Secret Misappropriation?

    If you are an attorney in need of a software trade secret misappropriation expert, we invite you to contact DisputeSoft.