Jordan Rice, with MoloLamken. Courtesy photo Trade Secrets and State Sovereign Immunity
When a state misappropriates trade secrets, sovereign immunity presents major barriers to relief—however, those barriers are not insurmountable.
June 17, 2022 at 04:05 PM
5 minute read
Trade secret cases often follow a similar pattern. A business partnership or relationship with a contractor falls apart, and one party sets off with the other's trade secret. A lawsuit then follows in which damages are available. The same fact pattern may play out where the defendant is a state entity—for example, a state university hospital system that stole a collaborator's work in developing a new medical treatment. In such circumstances, a trade secret owner must contend with the doctrine of state sovereign immunity, which imposes significant barriers to relief.
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