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FTC Folds, Admits Google Never Broke Antitrust Laws
Over the past two years, we have heard an endless stream of pundits, analysts and lobbyists weigh in on the possible antitrust case against Google. The most outrageous such commentary came from Thomas Barnett, a partner at Covington and Burling and lobbyist for Microsoft and other Google competitors. When interviewed for a CNET article, Barnett
Amazon (Basically) Loses Non-Compete Case Against Former Employee Who Left For Google
In October of this year, Amazon sued a former employee who had jumped ship and gone to work for Google. Beginning in mid-2010, Daniel Powers served as a vice-president of Amazon’s Web Services division. His principal job in that capacity was to sell Amazon cloud computing services to businesses. Powers left Amazon in June, signed
FTC Enters Final Order Invaliding Non-Compete Agreements of Reno Cardiologists
Last week, the Federal Trade Commission issued a final decision approving a consent order that will invalidate the non-compete agreements of ten cardiologists who are terminating their employment with Renown Health in Reno, Nevada. The move has been expected since late this summer, when the parties reached a tentative agreement on the matter. The situation
Advertising Giant Leo Burnett in Non-Compete Fight Over Kellogg Account with Eight Former Employees
Early this month, eight employees of the advertising giant Leo Burnett Company simultaneously left the company in the midst of work on a critical project for a major client. Ostensibly, the Leo Burnett Eight have their eyes set on taking that client and making it big on their own. Leo Burnett is one of the
DOJ Sues eBay for Non-Compete Pact
On Friday, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against eBay accusing the company of entering a non-compete pact with software maker Intuit. Under the terms of the alleged secret deal, both companies agreed to refrain from recruiting or hiring each other’s employees. According to the DOJ, both companies aggressively policed their respective workforces to
Zynga Adds Rival Kixeye as Defendant in Trade Secrets Case & Kixeye Countersues
The Zynga saga continues. In October, Zynga – the company that makes popular Facebook games like FarmVille – filed a lawsuit against a former employee, Allan Patmore. In short, Zynga alleges that Patmore left the company, took a ton of confidential information and trade secrets with him then went to work for a competitor Kixeye.
