A newly filed lawsuit in the Northern District of California centers on alleged trade secret misappropriation involving an AI powered patent analysis and management tool. VideoLabs, Inc., a Silicon Valley based intellectual property licensing and patent aggregation...
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To patent or not to patent, that is the right question. Don’t get us at Tangibly started on “patent vs. trade secret” or “patent or trade secret”. There’s no reason why a creative IP advisor can’t consider both patents AND trade secrets. The right initial question to...
We are living in an artificial intelligence (AI) gold rush. From large language models that write code to machine learning systems that optimize logistics or predict disease, AI innovations are transforming nearly every sector. For many companies, especially startups...
The USPTO issued new inventorship guidance for AI assisted inventions on November 28, 2025, relating to the hot topic of AI-assisted inventions. Please note that this only applies to examiners within the USPTO, and not to courts, congress, other countries’ patent...
In this episode Tim and Chris unpack the Inevitable Disclosure Doctrine, a century old trade secret rule that began in 1902 when a sugar refinery worker was blocked from joining a competitor. They explain how the doctrine works, the three factors courts consider, and how it is used to prevent potential misuse of trade secrets before any misappropriation occurs. The conversation explores how different states treat the doctrine, reviews the landmark PepsiCo v Redmond case, and looks at how its use has shifted from senior executives to highly skilled engineers, especially in the AI industry. As noncompete agreements face bans and tighter restrictions across the United States, the doctrine is becoming a more important tool for protecting valuable trade secrets.
When to patent and when to keep AI innovations secret Artificial intelligence is reshaping industries at breakneck speed, from healthcare diagnostics to creative content generation. But behind the hype lies a quieter, more complicated struggle: how do you actually...
Why are trade secrets becoming more important in the AI era? The rapid rise of artificial intelligence is changing how companies create, use, and protect intellectual property. While patents remain a critical part of an IP strategy, they are not always the best way to...
What is a holistic IP portfolio? A holistic IP portfolio is a coordinated strategy for protecting all forms of a company’s intellectual property, from patents and copyrights to trade secrets and proprietary information, in a way that strengthens business value and...
Artificial intelligence presents both opportunities and risks for businesses. While it drives innovation and efficiency, it also creates vulnerabilities for intellectual property. Companies invest heavily in proprietary technologies, designs, and processes, only to find that AI systems can expose or replicate these assets. Protecting IP in the AI era requires a proactive strategy that combines legal protections, strict oversight, and employee awareness to prevent AI from becoming a liability.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has transformed the way we create, innovate, and safeguard ideas, but it also introduces intricate questions around intellectual property (IP). The storage and processing of user input by AI models is a central concern. Information uploaded to an AI system, such as text, images, or other data, often becomes incorporated into the model’s memory, either temporarily or permanently. This blurring of lines between user contribution and machine learning challenges traditional IP frameworks. For example, determining ownership rights in AI-generated music based on user input becomes complex. As AI systems advance, legal systems globally are grappling to define ownership and protect creators within this evolving landscape.
Policy and Investment Recommendations for Trustworthy AI As artificial intelligence charges forward at an incredible pace, organizations find themselves on a tightrope, balancing lightning fast innovation with the crucial protection of their most valuable assets. The...
Our webinar combined the two hottest topics from 2023 and 2024 – AI and trade secrets. We discussed how AI itself can be protected by trade secrets, as well as the AI output can be a trade secret. AI is raising some interesting dilemmas for the legal industry since IP law is built on the concept of people creating new things, not machines doing it. For example, a patent inventor must be a human and same thing for a copyright creator. How to best protect valuable output of AI?
We are excited to announce the latest advancements in the Tangibly platform. We recently deployed two new features in our comprehensive toolbox for identifying and managing trade secrets.
If you can evergreen with patents, why not with trade secrets too?
In the patent world “evergreening” is a strategy of filing additional patent applications over time to ‘extend’ the patent protection of a valuable core technology. The pharmaceutical industry is the most well-known user of evergreening, although the mobile phone industry is rapidly adopting this strategy as well.
Last month (June 2023) a former Samsung Electronics executive and six others were arrested and indicted for theft of trade secrets and bringing the secrets to China to set up a competing factory. He had worked 18 years at Samsung and 10 years at SK Hynix. The...
Another strike against non-compete clauses, this time from Georgia. AmSpec sued four ex-employees for violating their employment agreements once they went to work for competing company Camin. Interestingly, AmSpec did not allege that Camin received or used...