Trade Secret, Noncompete, and Restrictive Covenant Litigation

Examples of past representations by members of our Trade Secret, Noncompete, and Restrictive Covenant Litigation Practice include:

• Currently defending a solar panel company against claims that the company poached a competitor’s entire salesforce, intentionally interfered with restrictive covenants, and misappropriated the competitor’s trade secrets. The case is scheduled for trial in April 2026.
• Currently prosecuting trade secret claims in California federal court against former employees and their new employer. The defendants are alleged to have misappropriated trade secrets from our client and intentionally concealed the true inventorship in certain patent applications to hide the misappropriation.
• Currently prosecuting trade secret claims in New Jersey district court against former employees who are alleged to have set up a competing business while still employed by our client. Our client alleges that the former employees misappropriated its confidential information and solicited customers to move to the competitor. 
• A high-level executive of our publicly-traded pharmaceutical client began working for a direct competitor in violation of her employment and severance agreements. We successfully obtained injunctive relief, which prohibited the employee from working on the drug therapy with which she was involved at our client at the new employer for the remainder of the non-compete period in her employment agreement.  The case settled on terms favorable to our client, including a return of all attorney’s fees.
• A client that provides assigned professionals to perform mission-critical services for its customers had a payment dispute with one of those customers. When negotiations over this payment dispute reached an impasse, the customer hired the assigned professional directly, eliminating the role of our client. We obtained an injunction in state court barring the assigned professional from performing any services for the customer, except as an employee of our client. The payment dispute and the full relationship between our client and its customer were soon resolved on terms favorable to our client.
• Our client received the resignations, without prior notice, of two key sales employees. Evidence strongly suggested pre-departure solicitation of clients and diversion of orders by the sales employees. We obtained injunctive relief and ultimately secured a $500,000 settlement.
• An out-of-state company bought a Pennsylvania corporation, and within a year of the completion of the sale, it learned that the selling shareholder had gone into competition with it, in violation of the noncompete provisions of the asset purchase agreement. We instituted a lawsuit in federal court seeking repayment of the purchase price of the business and injunctive relief and commenced expedited discovery. The matter was resolved within several weeks through a seven-figure settlement.
• An out-of-state employer and employee were sued in federal court in Pennsylvania by the individual’s former employer, seeking enforcement of a noncompete agreement. All injunctive relief was denied after our team convinced the federal judge that because of a wrinkle in Pennsylvania law, the noncompete agreement lacked adequate consideration.
• Several employees planning to leave their employer and form their own business approached Montgomery McCracken for advice on a lawful transition. After careful planning and development of detailed defenses to any lawsuit, the employees resigned. Although the employer had a history of litigation against former employees and threatened litigation in this case, we were successful in convincing the former employer that any lawsuit would be resisted vigorously and effectively. The former employer elected not to pursue litigation.
• Litigating restrictive covenants (in an action for damages and injunctive relief) against a founder of a substantial manufacturing business acquired in a stock sale. After the sale was consummated, the founder rehired over twenty of the business’ key employees for a competing business servicing one of the largest customers of the acquired business.
• Represented publicly traded pharmaceutical company in case involving departure of medical affairs executive and subsequent solicitation of other employees in violation of non-solicitation clause as well as claims against new employer for tortious interference with business relations based on a “corporate raid” theory. Successfully obtained temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction on breach of contract claims and settled on favorable terms.