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Outsourced Manufacturing and Trade Secrets: Security Procedures for Access, Storage, and Transmission (Part 12)

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Licensing of Trade Secrets and IP

The licensing of the company’s trade secrets and other IP should be consistent with the company’s identification of its trade secrets and other IP and appropriately limited in scope. Among other considerations, the license should be:

  • Narrowly tailored to cover only the manufacturer’s required use of the licensed information and IP. 
  • Revocable and subject to immediate termination when appropriate.
  • Sublicensable and assignable only to the extent necessary under the arrangement.

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Employees or Independent Contractor Generated IP (Part 1)

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Intellectual property protection

This post will provide an overview of key IP issues encountered when dealing with employees and independent contractors. We will cover the default ownership rules and rights for different types of IP and some tips on how to maximize an employer’s rights vis-à-vis its employees.

Intellectual property (IP) created by employees and independent contractors or consultants, particularly in a technical or creative role, can have significant value for a company. However, if not careful, a company may also be obligated to transfer ownership or permit the use of certain IP to customers, collaborators, or other third parties. Thus, it is important to understand how to protect an employer’s interests in it.  Read more

Meet the IP Thought Leaders: Ozer M. N. Teitelbaum

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Meet the IP Thought Leaders: Ozer M. N. Teitelbaum by David L. Cohen

Over the course of my 20+ years practicing law, I have had the honor of working with many individuals at the cutting edge of all aspects of intellectual property. I consider myself very lucky that most of these folks, in addition to being luminaries in the industry, are good people and have welcomed me into their professional world with open arms. To celebrate these individuals, I am inaugurating a series of interviews.

My next interviewee is best described as the nicest person in patent monetization and intellectual property strategy  I don’t mean that in a milquetoast kind of way. He can be as forceful and combative as the best of them. Rather, his essential decency as a human being shines through everything he touches.  I have met many, many people through Ozer, and I have introduced him to a few – and to a person – they all have utmost respect for him both as a professional and as a person.   Read more

A Rotten Apple Standard

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Well it finally happened.  Notwithstanding the settlement with Apple, the district court overseeing the FTC’s case against Qualcomm issued a blistering, 233 page opinion against Qualcomm’s SEP licensing practices.  Some have argued that this ruling is just one more step in Apple’s long play attempts to kill SEP licensing – the technology that has put the “phone” into the iPhone.  To better understand this claim it is worth looking back at Apple’s history with respect to SEPs.

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Outsourced Manufacturing and Trade Secrets: Contractual Trade Secret Protection Measures (Part 9)

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Outsourced Manufacturing and Trade Secrets: Contractual Trade Secret Protection Measures (Part 9) by David L. CohenAs we have discussed elsewhere, a trade secret audit or assessment is vital if a company is to protect itself during the outsourced manufacturing process. [See these articles: Trade Secret Audits – Why Bother? ; You’ve Decided to Conduct a Trade Secret Audit. Now What?; You’ve Decided to Conduct a Trade Secret Audit. Now What? Part 2 ] Read more

Outsourced Manufacturing and Trade Secrets: Manufacturing Process & Personnel (Part 7)

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Outsourced Manufacturing and Trade Secrets: Manufacturing Process & Personnel (Part 7) by David L. Cohen

After deciding on the basic corporate or contractual structure, the company should decide how best to strategically divide the manufacturing process. In the outsourced manufacturing context, the best process involves not only efficient manufacture, but also the most effective process to mitigate potential trade secret risks. Read more

Outsourced Manufacturing and Trade Secrets: Transaction Structure & Contract (Part 6)

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Outsourced Manufacturing and Trade Secrets: Transaction Structure & Contract by David L. Cohen

Transaction Structure

Once the company selects a potential outsourced manufacturing partner, it should design a transaction structure that reinforces its commercial expectations and the manufacturer’s contractual obligations. Specifically, the company should structure the outsourced manufacturing transaction in a manner best suited to protect the company’s key intellectual assets (both registered IP and unregistered IP like trade secrets and know-how). Transaction structure considerations include both the particular corporate and contractual form of the relationship, and how the company will delegate the manufacturing process to the outsourced manufacturer. Read more

Tech’s Frightful Five and Their Allies Come to Brussels

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Tech’s Frightful Five and their Allies Come to Brussels by David L. Cohen

Over the past 100 years corporate America has become quite sophisticated in how it lobbies the US Federal and State government and regulators.   While the messages being promoted may differ, lobbying for corporate interests as diverse as tobacco, sugar (and here), firearms, the environment, fossil fuels, health insurance (and here), financial regulation, and many other fields has become a major business in Washington and around the country.  Indeed, some have argued that the sheer scale of corporate lobbying has allowed it to conquer democracy in America.

It is no surprise, then that Tech’s Frightful Five (Apple, Alphabet/Google, Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft) have become masters of the lobbying game in America.

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Tech’s Frightful Five and Their Allies Come to Brussels

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Tech’s Frightful Five and their Allies Come to Brussels by David L. Cohen

Over the past 100 years corporate America has become quite sophisticated in how it lobbies the US Federal and State government and regulators.   While the messages being promoted may differ, lobbying for corporate interests as diverse as tobacco, sugar (and here), firearms, the environment, fossil fuels, health insurance (and here), financial regulation, and many other fields has become a major business in Washington and around the country.  Indeed, some have argued that the sheer scale of corporate lobbying has allowed it to conquer democracy in America.

It is no surprise, then that Tech’s Frightful Five (Apple, Alphabet/Google, Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft) have become masters of the lobbying game in America.

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Outsourced Manufacturing and Trade Secrets: An Economic Overview (Part 1)

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Since the beginning of the industrial age, companies have outsourced part of the manufacturing process to third-party providers. In the twentieth century, as manufacturing processes became more complex and distribution more global, this trend accelerated.

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