Trade secret and misappropriation claims typically arise in the context of corporate espionage, and may involve claims for breach of contract, conversion, and trespass to chattel. Despite the cloak-and-dagger connotations of “corporate espionage,” these cases often involve a lone disgruntled or former employee personally using, or providing a competitor with, sensitive corporate information, such as customer lists, planning and marketing strategies, ongoing research and development, manufacturing techniques and processes, and, increasingly, proprietary algorithms.
The lynchpin for such claims is the unauthorized use of another’s business property or information for commercial advantage, and it encompasses acts of corporate sabotage, such as those perpetrated by the installation of malware or ransomware that obliterates corporate information or takes it hostage.
Lynch Daskal LLP litigates trade secret and misappropriation claims on behalf of corporations victimized by corporate espionage. We also represent individuals who have been wrongfully accused of such corporate theft. In one such case—a vigorously litigated lawsuit arising out of the duplication of a computer hard drive in connection with a matrimonial action—Lynch Daskal LLP took its arguments to the Appellate Division, which dismissed all causes of action against its client. Twin Securities, Inc. v. Advocate & Lichtenstein, LLP et al., 113 A.D.3d 565, 980 N.Y.S.2d 18 (1st Dep’t 2014).