Trade secret theft and correlated breaches of restrictive covenants are serious, wide-reaching problems that are on the rise. Not only are hacking and corporate espionage now an ever-present threat; a recent survey from a major digital security company found that more than half of corporate employees surveyed admitted that they had misappropriated trade secrets from a former employer.  The implementation of the Defend Trade Secrets Act, certain rulings related to patent cases, and a transient work force all indicate that trade secret claims may be on the rise. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to determine with certainty whether misappropriation has occurred – and the impact from trade secret theft can be economically devastating to the affected party. 

Whether it be a formula, compound, technical know-how, customer list, business plan, pricing, or other protected information, the quantification and/or rebuttal of alleged damages is unique to each case.  Further, employment agreements containing restrictive covenants, such as non-disclosure of protectable trade secrets or confidential information, employment by a competitor, or solicitation of employees, also may factor into damage claims and related calculations.

Stout experts are leading authorities on quantifying financial damages related to violations of restrictive covenants and trade secret misappropriation. We bring an independent point of view, deep technical expertise, and a track record of credible and compelling testimony in such matters.

Our experts regularly provide analysis and expert testimony on issues, including:

• Lost profits resulting from lost sales, convoyed sales and price erosion
• Financial gains due to the alleged misappropriation, i.e. disgorgement or unjust enrichment
• Application of appropriate costs to a calculation of alleged damages
• Reasonable royalties, including the determination of the proper royalty base and rate
• Forensic accounting and analysis pertaining to causational issues
• Economic market analyses 
• Irreparable harm analyses
• Corrective advertising
• Mitigation assessments

Our Services

• Preparation of discovery requests
• Review of produced documents to ensure compliance with associated requests
• Computation and rebuttal of damages analyses
• Expert testimony
• Preparation of demonstrative exhibits
• Development of settlement positions 

Who We Serve

• Outside litigation counsel
• In-house counsel
• Government agencies
• Courts, mediators, and others in need of neutral experts