edf40wrjww2CF_PaperMaster:Desc
The Economic Espionage Act of 1996 makes it a federal crime to steal another's trade secrets. In this era of information technology the value of intellectual property has been fully realized. This makes it increasingly important to protect intellectual property and provide a legal framework to bring those that illegally access and use that information to justice.
This paper will address a scenario where unscrupulous practices are used to gain access to intellectual property, discuss surrounding and resulting circumstances that occur, and the result of improperly using that information. Bug, Inc is a company based in Any State, U.S.A. that designs, manufactures, and sells, electronic recording devices. The second company, Wiretap Inc., is a relatively new company trying to compete with Bug, Inc. Wiretap, Inc. sent Steve, a Wiretap employee to Bug, Inc. to get a job and the story unfolds. This paper will explore the civil liabilities, tort liabilities, and other possible litigation at each stage.
Steve, our Wiretap, Inc. employee gets a job working in research and development at Bug, Inc. He forwarded an e-mail he illegally intercepted using which contained information obtained about the Bug, Inc. product lines. Obviously Bug Inc could not have patented these new product lines but they should have patented the technology to safeguard it from copy of theft.
A patent may be granted for an invention which gives the patent holder a right to prevent others from using the invention without permission from the inventor for a certain period of time usually 20 years from the filing date of a patent application. E ...