Scrutiny of ESG and Sustainability Initiatives Under Antitrust Laws

U.S. regulators have confirmed that no sustainability or ESG commitment antitrust exemptions exist or will be announced. Lawmakers are keeping the pressure on ESG/sustainability initiatives through continued investigations of the potential anticompetitive impact of collaborations, information exchanges and agreements advancing social and...

Trade Secret Remedies After Motorola Solutions, Inc. v. Hytera Communications Corp. Ltd.

Motorola v. Hytera arose after Hytera had poached three Motorola engineers, “offering them high-paying jobs in exchange for Motorola’s proprietary information.” (Opinion at 2.) Hytera then used the stolen materials to develop a competing line of products indistinguishable from Motorola’s product. Much of the theft occurred from 2010 to 2014, but...

USA Federal Court Decision Creates Greater Uncertainty as to Future of FTC Final Rule on Noncompete Clauses

In ATS Tree Services v. Federal Trade Commission, the Eastern District of Pennsylvania found that even if the plaintiff employer could show irreparable harm, injunctive relief would still be inappropriate because the plaintiff was unlikely to prevail on its argument that the FTC did not have authority to promulgate the Noncompete Rule.

Seventh Circuit Confirms Extraterritorial Reach of the Defend Trade Secrets Act

Under Motorola, a trade secret plaintiff can bring its claim against a foreign defendant in the United States even when most of the wrongful conduct occurs outside the USA, so long as there is some act in furtherance of the misappropriation in the United States. In such cases, the trade secret plaintiff can recover damages on all of the...

Jarkesy Limits Power of the SEC to Rely on In-House Adjudicators When Pursuing Penalties for Fraud

Previously, the SEC could elect to litigate fraud cases before its administrative law judges, where it had “home court” advantage, and who often have considerable subject-matter expertise, but now it must bring such cases in a U.S. federal court.