Trade secret theft causes billions of dollars’ worth of losses each year for businesses worldwide and can span multiple countries. One success shows a path to level the corporate playing field.
A valuable, vulnerable competitive edge
After Italy-based Acciaierie Valbruna, S.p.A., a leading global manufacturer of stainless steel products, had invested decades and millions of dollars in researching and developing hundreds of unique steel grades, an employee downloaded the confidential manufacturing processes for making those grades and sold them to a competitor in Asia, Viraj Profiles Ltd.
Mission possible: An international trade remedy
We helped Valbruna file a Section 337 complaint with the US International Trade Commission. For the first time, we proved that Viraj possessed and used Valbruna's stolen trade secrets to manufacture products, and then destroyed the evidence to hide its crime. We won a powerful exclusion order from the Commission and successfully defended the order before the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Unfair competitor barred from the US$20 trillion economy
Valbruna's victory blocks Viraj from importing, marketing, or selling products in the US market for more than 16 years. Valbruna was also awarded millions of dollars as compensation for Viraj's imports following the Commission's decision.
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